Mahārāja (Sanskrit: महाराज, also spelled Maharajah, Moharaja) is a Sanskrit title for a "great ruler", "great king" or "high king".[1] A few ruled mighty states informally called empires, including Ranjit Singh, founder of the Sikh empire, and Maharaja Sri Gupta, founder of the ancient Indian Gupta empire, but 'title inflation' soon led to most being rather mediocre or even petty in real power, while compound titles were among the attempts to distinguish some among their ranks. Maharaja Hari Singh of Jammu and Kashmir, the largest state in British India,[2] was the last Maharaja to be an independent sovereign post Indian independence.[3]

The female equivalent, Maharani (or Maharanee, Moharani, Mahārājñī), denotes either the wife of a Maharaja (or Maharana etc.), and also in states where that was customary, a woman ruling without a husband. The widow of a Maharaja is known as a Rajmata "queen mother".[4]Maharaja Kumar generally denotes a son of a Maharaja, but more specific titulatures are often used at each court, including Yuvaraja for the heir. The form Maharaj indicates a separation of noble and religious offices, although the fact that in Hindi the suffix -a is silent makes the two titles near homophones.

The British directly ruled two-thirds of India; the rest was under indirect rule by the above-mentioned princes under the considerable influence of British representatives, such as Residents, at their courts.

The word Maharaja may be understood simply to mean "ruler" or "king", in spite of its literal translation as "great king", this was because only a handful of the states were truly powerful and wealthy enough for their rulers to be considered 'great' monarchs; the remaining were minor princely states, sometimes little more than towns or groups of villages. The word, however, can also mean emperor in contemporary Indian usage.

The title of Maharaja was not as common before the gradual British colonisation of India, upon and after which many Rajas and otherwise styled Hindu rulers were elevated to Maharajas, regardless of the fact that scores of these new Maharajas ruled small states, sometimes for some reason unrelated to the eminence of the state, for example, support to the British in Afghanistan, World War I or World War II. Two Rajas who became Maharajas in the twentieth century were the Maharaja of Cochin and the legendary Maharaja Jagatjit Singh of Kapurthala.

Maharajah has taken on new spellings due to the time change and migration. It has even been shortened to Mahraj and Maraj but the most common is Maharajah and Maharaj.

Despite its literal meaning, unlike many other titles meaning Great King, neither Maharaja nor Rajadhiraja ('King of Kings'), nor even its equivalent amongst. Maharaja, 'Maharajadhiraja', never reached the standing required for imperial rank, as each was soon the object of title inflation. Instead, the Hindu title which is commonly rendered as Emperor is Samraat or Samraj(a), a personal distinction achieved by a few rulers of ancient dynasties such as the Mauryas and Guptas; the Muslim equivalent of emperor would be Padshah (of Persian origin), notably applied to the Mughal dynasty, the Paramount power until the British established their raj.

Dharma-maharaja was the devout title (compare Rajadharma) of the rulers of the Ganga dynasty.

In the Mughal Empire it was quite common to award to various princes (hereditary or not) a series of lofty titles as a matter of protocolary rank, the British would, as paramount power, do the same. Many of these (see also above) elaborate explicitly on the title Maharaja, in the following descending order:

Maharajadhiraja Bahadur (or Maharajadhiraj Bahadur): Great Prince over Princes, a title of honour, one degree higher than Maharajadhiraja.

Maharajadhiraja (or Maharajadhiraj): Great Prince over Princes, a title of honour, one degree higher than Sawai Maharaja Bahadur.

Sawai Maharaja Bahadur: a title of honour, one degree higher than Sawai Maharaja. (the term bahadur, originally 'brave' in Mongolian, was often used for 'one-degree' higher', and 'sawai' is 'one and a quarter higher', i.e. just a step above bahadur)

Sawai Maharaja: a title of honour one degree higher than Maharaja Bahadur; as granted (directly) to the Rajas of Ajaygarh.

Maharaja Bahadur: a title of honour, one degree higher than Maharaja.

Maharaja itself could also be granted as a personal; non-hereditary style, e.g. in 1941 to Sir Pratap Singh II, Raja of Ali Rajpur

Like Raja and various other titles, Maharaja was repeatedly awarded to notables without a princely state, such as zamindars.

One Raja of Lambagraon, a Jagir (in Himachal Pradesh) who served in the colonial army was granted personally the non-hereditary title of Maharaja of Kangra-Lambagraon and a personal 11-guns salute, so neither honour passed on to his son and heir.

In the major, Muslim realm of Hyderabad and Berar, there was a system of ennobling titles for the Nizam's courtiers, conferring a specific rank without any (e)state of their own, not unlike peerage titles without an actual fief in the UK, the highest titles for Hindu nobles being Maharaja Bahadur and Maharaja, above Vant, Raja Rai-i-Rayan Bahadur, Raja Rai Bahadur, Raja Bahadur, Raja and (the lowest) Rai; for their Muslim counterparts there were alternative titles, the highest being Jah and Umara; e.g. the Diwan (Prime Minister) Maharaja Sir Kishen Pershad, held such a Maharaja-title.

As many Indonesian states started out when the archipelago was still predominantly Hindu (Bali still is) or Buddhist, some have been ruled by a maharaja, such as Srivijaya, Majapahit and Kutai Karta Negara (until that kingdom converted to Islam in 1565, when the Muslim title of sultan was adopted). Traditional titles remain in use for the other members of this dynasty, such as Pangeran Ratu for the heir.

The Englishman Capt. James Brooke was declared as Raja Brooke by the Brunei Sultan, the word Raja derived from the word Maharaja. Raja Brooke pacified the Sarawak Revolt against the Brunei Sultan, thus declared by the latter as Raja during the Raffles' stint.

Maharaja was the title of the monarch of the peninsular Malay state of Johor(e) from 1873 to 1885. The Arabic, Muslim title Sultan, often considered of higher rank, was re-adopted later and remains in current usage.

The title Bendahara Seri Maharaja was used by the ruler of Pahang (1623–1853 in personal union with Johor, eventually becoming a fief of the Bendahara family), till on 6 August 1882 Tuanku Ahmad al-Muadzam Shah ibni al-Marhum Tun Ali adopted the title, Sultan.

In Seri Malayas of the Srivijaya, under the Srivijaya satellite empire of the Majapahit Empire dominated over the whole Malayas far-reaching the present Philippine Archipelago, Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia under the Srivijaya Empire of the Majapahit King Maharaja Pamariwasa. The latter's daughter Es-kander was married to an Arab (Zein Ul-Abidin) who was a Srivijaya ruler in Seri who were a Srivijaya Monarchy; in the 12th century with the fall of the empire, the Seri King being a Muslim established the Sultanate of Brunei in 1363 with the throne name Sultan Mohamad Shah. In 1426, as his death was recorded in 1431 Mt. Makatangis Sulu grave and 1432 Brunei grave as Sulu and Brunei claim the honour of his grave, he also did established the Sultanate of Sulu while his brother Makdum Karim (Sharif Kabungsuwan of Malabang Lanao), a Srivijaya Johore ruler, later established the Sultanate of Maguindanao-Ranao (Mindanao) after taking the political authority of his father-in-law Tomaoi Aliwya of the Maguiindanao family dynasty.

A progeny in 1704, Sayyid Nakhoda Perkasa Angging (Maharaja Anddin) grandson of the second Brunei Sultan Ahmad, the former married to Mahandon the sister of Muwalil Wasit (the 1825 Sulu Sultan Jamaulul Kiram-I), The latter who bigoted the 1839 Sulu Sultan Pulalun. Being childless, Pulalun proclaimed his Crown Prince- Maharaja Adinda Taup (son of Sayyid Nakhoda Perkasa Angging), the title Maharaja Adinda at the beginning of the name to append Sultan. Maharaja Adinda Taup the 1859 Maharaja of the Sulu Sultanate and Prince Heir-apparent of Sultan Pulalun at the time.

Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram-I (Muwalil Wasit) was the 70 year later descendant of the 1752 three So-called Sultans of Mindanao, namely Kiram Sinsuat, Kiram Misuari and Kiram Sorronga, the latter in 1752, whereby Mindanao was ceded in inheritance to them by their consanguinity-Kinship, the Noble King Luisung Tagean-Tallano.

And Maharaja Adinda Taup's son was the 1916 Sharif Imam Ul-Alam Arpa and Highest Spiritual Leader of the Sulu's, the latter whom American Gov. Frank W. Carpenter returned Sulu's sovereignty as a suzerainty, the Sharif Promulgating the Literacy Campaign, building of roads, schools, water system and Jambatans-Wharfs as supported by the said American Governor, the latter named the said Sharif's son as Carpenter Arpa-I placing five silver dollars on the child's chest symbolic of the five Sulu Sultanate territories. Sayyid Paduka Ahmad Carpenter Arpa-V is the Monarchical Chieftain of Maharlika Mindanao and Sulu, as by the facts and proprietary rights as by the 2007 agreement between the Philippine Government and the Prince Julian Morden Tallano, the progeny of King Luisung Tagean Tallano.

In the Philippines, more specifically in Sulu, Maharaja (also spelled "Maharajah") was a title given to various sub-divisional princes after the fall of the Srivijaya of the Majapahit Empire. Parts of the Philippines may have later been ruled by community leaders as Maharajah from once being under the Srivijaya and Majapahit empires.

Upon the establishment of the Sultanate of Sulu c. 1425–1450, the title of maharaja was used by monarchs such as Sultan Maharaja Upo (also Sultan Shar ul-uddin Digmin, Mu'izz Ul-mutawad'in), who ruled from 1520 to 1548.[citation needed]

In the Sulu Sultanate in the Philippines, the Raja Muda (Crown Prince) is the heir to the throne, the Maharaja Adinda is the second heir apparent and the Maharaja Lailah acts as chief of the palace.[7] Eventually, Maharajah Adinda was also used to refer to a particular lineage within the royal families.

Maharaja was also part of the titles of the nobility in the Sumatran sultanate of Aceh; in the past the title of Maharaja is given to leader of the unreigning noble family and the Prime Minister Maharaja Mangkubumi. The last Prime Minister of Aceh who was installed to be the Maharaja Mangkubumi, Habib Abdurrahman el Zahir, also acted as the foreign affairs minister of Aceh but was deposed and exiled to Jeddah by the colonial Dutch East Indies authorities in October 1878. The name Maharaja may also append one as a successor Sultan.

1.
Maharani (album)
–
Maharani is a 2005 music album by Nicolette Nikki Palikat, the Kadazan-Dusun singer from Malaysian Idol, released on the Artistes United Records label. Ning Baizura is the executive producer, the album was released on two CDs, with the second disc containing remixes. The album features a range of instrumentation, from violins on Imaginasi to beat-drums and techno. Sunudai Oku is sung in Nikkis native tongue, Bahasa Dusun, in late 2006, the album were re-released with new tracks, new remixes as well a bonus music video VCD containing her music videos

2.
Durbar (court)
–
Durbar is a Hindi-Urdu word, equally common in all North Indian languages and many other South Asian languages. It was the used for the place where Indian Kings and other rulers had their formal and informal meetings, i. e. in European context. Durbar is a Persian-derived term meaning the kings or rulers noble court or a meeting where the king held all discussions regarding the state. It was later used in India and Nepal for a court or feudal levy as the latter came to be ruled. A durbar may be either a state council for administering the affairs of a princely state, or a purely ceremonial gathering. The most famous Durbars belonged to Great Emperors and Kings, in the North, cities like Udaipur, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Jaiselmer, and Agra have palaces that adorn such magnificent halls. The Mughal Emperor Akbar had two halls, one for his ministers and the other for the general public, usually Durbar halls are lavishly decorated with the best possible materials available at the time. In the south of India, the Mysore Palace had a number of halls, especially the Peacock Hall, having colour tinted glasses imported from Belgium. The Durbar Hall in the Khilawat Mubarak, in the city of Hyderabad, beneath the main Dome of the Rastrapati Bhavan is present, the grand Durbar Hall, where many state functions presided by the President of India are held. A durbar could also be the council of a native state. There was some overlap between the two groups and this was originally another word for audience room and council, but in India it also applies to a privy council and chancery. The practice was started with Lord Lyttons Proclamation Durbar of 1877 celebrating the proclamation of Queen Victoria as the first Empress of India, Durbars continued to be held in later years, with increased ceremony and grandeur than their predecessors. In 1903, for instance, the Coronation Durbar was held in Delhi to celebrate the accession of Edward VII to the British throne and this ceremony was presided over by the Viceroy of India, Lord Curzon. The King and Queen attended the Durbar in person and wore their Coronation robes and they were the only British monarchs to visit India during the period of British rule. No durbar was held for later British monarchs who were Emperors of India, Edward VIII reigned only a brief time before abdicating. In Malaysian history, the Durbar was the council comprising the four rulers of the Federated Malay States under British protectorate, first held in 1897, it was a platform for the rulers to discuss issues pertaining state policies with British officials. When the Federation of Malaya was formed in 1948, the Durbar transformed into the Conference of Rulers with the inclusion of the states of Malaya. The membership was enlarged with the addition of new states in the formation of Malaysia in 1963

3.
Pudukkottai State
–
Pudukkottai was a kingdom and later a princely state in British India, which existed from 1680 until 1948. The Kingdom of Pudukkottai was founded in about 1680 as a feudatory of Ramnad and grew with subsequent additions from Tanjore, Sivaganga, Pudukkottai State covered a total area of 1,178 square miles and had a population of 438,648 in 1941. It extended over the whole of the present-day Pudukkottai district of Tamil Nadu, the town of Pudukkottai was its capital. The ruler of Pudukkottai was entitled to a 17-gun salute, the state of Pudukkottai extended from 10 degrees 7 to 10 degrees 44N latitudes and 78 degrees 25 and 79 degrees 12 E longitudes. and covered a total area of 1,178 square miles. It extended for 52 miles from east to west and 41 miles from north to south, the state was bounded by Trichinopoly district to the west, Tanjore district to the east and south-east and Sivaganga estate of Madura district to the south. The kingdom did not have fixed boundaries originally and was called Tondaiman country or Tondaimans woods until the end of 18th century, the kingdom started to have fixed boundaries since early 19th century. The easternmost point of Pudukkottai state was located 12 miles from the sea, for administrative purposes, the state was divided into three taluks, Alangudi, Kulathur and Thirumayam, each under the authority of a Tahsildar who was responsible for land revenue. There was also a few semi-autonomous zamindaris, Karambakadu, Nagaram, Palayavanam, Senthankudi, as of 1931, the princely state of Pudukkottai had a total population of 400,694 with a population density of 340 people per square mile. Ponnamaravathi firka was the most densely populated with 498 people per mile while Nirpalani was the most sparsely populated with 213 people per square mile. The male literacy rate was 21.62 percent and the literacy rate,1.87 percent. Between 1925 and 1929, the population of the state dropped by over 65 percent as more than 53,000 people left Pudukkottai for neighbouring districts due to widespread plague, however, there were significant Muslim and Christian populations. The affairs of Hindu temples was administered by a Devasthanams Department established in 1897, according to the 1901 census, there were 353,723 Hindus who formed 93% of the states population. Muslims who numbered 12,268 formed 3. 2% of the population while the Christians numbering 14,449 formed 3. 8% of the population, in 1931, there were 367,348 Hindus,15,194 Muslims and 17,960 Christians. The majority of the population spoke Tamil as their mother tongue, according to the 1931 census, Tamil was spoken by 378,741 people or 94.52 percent of the population as their mother tongue. Other languages spoken as mother-tongue included Telugu, Kanarese, Hindusthani or Urdu, Saurashtri, Marathi, Malayalam, Hindi, Arabic, English, Danish, Malay, Sinhalese, Konkani, the natives of Pudukkottai spoke Tamil which was also an official language of the state alongside English. Telugu-speakers were descendants of military chieftains who had migrated during the rule of the Vijayanagar Empire, Kanarese or Kannada was spoken largely by the Kuruba shepherds who had migrated from the Mysore kingdom. However, the Kurubars spoke a Kanarese dialect of their own with an admixture of Tamil words. Hindusthani or Urdu was used by Pathani Muslims while Saurasthri and Marathi were spoken by the Saurashtra, the Raja of Pudukkottai was the paramount head of the state and no bill became law without his assent

4.
Sanskrit language
–
Sanskrit is the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, a philosophical language of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism, and a literary language and lingua franca of ancient and medieval South Asia. As a result of transmission of Hindu and Buddhist culture to Southeast Asia and parts of Central Asia, as one of the oldest Indo-European languages for which substantial written documentation exists, Sanskrit holds a prominent position in Indo-European studies. The body of Sanskrit literature encompasses a rich tradition of poetry and drama as well as scientific, technical, philosophical, the compositions of Sanskrit were orally transmitted for much of its early history by methods of memorization of exceptional complexity, rigor, and fidelity. Thereafter, variants and derivatives of the Brahmi script came to be used, Sanskrit is today one of the 22 languages listed in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution of India, which mandates the Indian government to develop the language. It continues to be used as a ceremonial language in Hindu religious rituals and Buddhist practice in the form of hymns. The Sanskrit verbal adjective sáṃskṛta- may be translated as refined, elaborated, as a term for refined or elaborated speech, the adjective appears only in Epic and Classical Sanskrit in the Manusmṛti and the Mahabharata. The pre-Classical form of Sanskrit is known as Vedic Sanskrit, with the language of the Rigveda being the oldest and most archaic stage preserved, Classical Sanskrit is the standard register as laid out in the grammar of Pāṇini, around the fourth century BCE. Sanskrit, as defined by Pāṇini, evolved out of the earlier Vedic form, the present form of Vedic Sanskrit can be traced back to as early as the second millennium BCE. Scholars often distinguish Vedic Sanskrit and Classical or Pāṇinian Sanskrit as separate dialects, although they are quite similar, they differ in a number of essential points of phonology, vocabulary, grammar and syntax. Vedic Sanskrit is the language of the Vedas, a collection of hymns, incantations and theological and religio-philosophical discussions in the Brahmanas. Modern linguists consider the metrical hymns of the Rigveda Samhita to be the earliest, for nearly 2000 years, Sanskrit was the language of a cultural order that exerted influence across South Asia, Inner Asia, Southeast Asia, and to a certain extent East Asia. A significant form of post-Vedic Sanskrit is found in the Sanskrit of Indian epic poetry—the Ramayana, the deviations from Pāṇini in the epics are generally considered to be on account of interference from Prakrits, or innovations, and not because they are pre-Paninian. Traditional Sanskrit scholars call such deviations ārṣa, meaning of the ṛṣis, in some contexts, there are also more prakritisms than in Classical Sanskrit proper. There were four principal dialects of classical Sanskrit, paścimottarī, madhyadeśī, pūrvi, the predecessors of the first three dialects are attested in Vedic Brāhmaṇas, of which the first one was regarded as the purest. In the 2001 Census of India,14,035 Indians reported Sanskrit to be their first language, in India, Sanskrit is among the 14 original languages of the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution. The state of Uttarakhand in India has ruled Sanskrit as its official language. In October 2012 social activist Hemant Goswami filed a petition in the Punjab. More than 3,000 Sanskrit works have been composed since Indias independence in 1947, much of this work has been judged of high quality, in comparison to both classical Sanskrit literature and modern literature in other Indian languages

5.
Sanskrit
–
Sanskrit is the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, a philosophical language of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism, and a literary language and lingua franca of ancient and medieval South Asia. As a result of transmission of Hindu and Buddhist culture to Southeast Asia and parts of Central Asia, as one of the oldest Indo-European languages for which substantial written documentation exists, Sanskrit holds a prominent position in Indo-European studies. The body of Sanskrit literature encompasses a rich tradition of poetry and drama as well as scientific, technical, philosophical, the compositions of Sanskrit were orally transmitted for much of its early history by methods of memorization of exceptional complexity, rigor, and fidelity. Thereafter, variants and derivatives of the Brahmi script came to be used, Sanskrit is today one of the 22 languages listed in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution of India, which mandates the Indian government to develop the language. It continues to be used as a ceremonial language in Hindu religious rituals and Buddhist practice in the form of hymns. The Sanskrit verbal adjective sáṃskṛta- may be translated as refined, elaborated, as a term for refined or elaborated speech, the adjective appears only in Epic and Classical Sanskrit in the Manusmṛti and the Mahabharata. The pre-Classical form of Sanskrit is known as Vedic Sanskrit, with the language of the Rigveda being the oldest and most archaic stage preserved, Classical Sanskrit is the standard register as laid out in the grammar of Pāṇini, around the fourth century BCE. Sanskrit, as defined by Pāṇini, evolved out of the earlier Vedic form, the present form of Vedic Sanskrit can be traced back to as early as the second millennium BCE. Scholars often distinguish Vedic Sanskrit and Classical or Pāṇinian Sanskrit as separate dialects, although they are quite similar, they differ in a number of essential points of phonology, vocabulary, grammar and syntax. Vedic Sanskrit is the language of the Vedas, a collection of hymns, incantations and theological and religio-philosophical discussions in the Brahmanas. Modern linguists consider the metrical hymns of the Rigveda Samhita to be the earliest, for nearly 2000 years, Sanskrit was the language of a cultural order that exerted influence across South Asia, Inner Asia, Southeast Asia, and to a certain extent East Asia. A significant form of post-Vedic Sanskrit is found in the Sanskrit of Indian epic poetry—the Ramayana, the deviations from Pāṇini in the epics are generally considered to be on account of interference from Prakrits, or innovations, and not because they are pre-Paninian. Traditional Sanskrit scholars call such deviations ārṣa, meaning of the ṛṣis, in some contexts, there are also more prakritisms than in Classical Sanskrit proper. There were four principal dialects of classical Sanskrit, paścimottarī, madhyadeśī, pūrvi, the predecessors of the first three dialects are attested in Vedic Brāhmaṇas, of which the first one was regarded as the purest. In the 2001 Census of India,14,035 Indians reported Sanskrit to be their first language, in India, Sanskrit is among the 14 original languages of the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution. The state of Uttarakhand in India has ruled Sanskrit as its official language. In October 2012 social activist Hemant Goswami filed a petition in the Punjab. More than 3,000 Sanskrit works have been composed since Indias independence in 1947, much of this work has been judged of high quality, in comparison to both classical Sanskrit literature and modern literature in other Indian languages

6.
Monarch
–
A monarch is the sovereign head of state in a monarchy. A monarch may exercise the highest authority and power in the state, alternatively, an individual may become monarch by conquest, acclamation or a combination of means. A monarch usually reigns for life or until abdication, if a young child is crowned the monarch, a regent is often appointed to govern until the monarch reaches the requisite adult age to rule. A monarch can reign in multiple monarchies simultaneously, for example, the monarchy of Canada and the monarchy of the United Kingdom are separate states, but they share the same monarch through personal union. Monarchs, as such, bear a variety of titles — king or queen, prince or princess, emperor or empress, archduke, duke or grand duke, Prince is sometimes used as a generic term to refer to any monarch regardless of title, especially in older texts. A king can also be a husband and a queen can be a kings wife. If both people in a reign, neither person is generally considered to be a consort. Monarchy is political or sociocultural in nature, and is associated with hereditary rule. Most monarchs, both historically and in the present day, have been born and brought up within a royal family, different systems of succession have been used, such as proximity of blood, primogeniture, agnatic seniority, Salic law, etc. In an elective monarchy, the monarch is elected but otherwise serves as any other monarch, historical examples of elective monarchy include the Holy Roman Emperors and the free election of kings of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. In recent centuries, many states have abolished the monarchy and become republics, advocacy of government by a republic is called republicanism, while advocacy of monarchy is called monarchism. A principal advantage of hereditary monarchy is the continuity of national leadership. In cases where the monarch serves mostly as a ceremonial figure real leadership does not depend on the monarch, a form of government may in fact be hereditary without being considered monarchy, such as a family dictatorship. Monarchies take a variety of forms, such as the two co-princes of Andorra, positions held simultaneously by the Roman Catholic Bishop of Urgel and the elected President of France. Similarly, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia is considered a monarch despite only holding the position for five years at a time, hereditary succession within one patrilineal family has been most common, with preference for children over siblings, sons over daughters. Other European realms practice one form or another of primogeniture, whereunder a lord was succeeded by his eldest son or, if he had none, by his brother, the system of tanistry was semi-elective and gave weight also to ability and merit. The Salic law, practiced in France and in the Italian territories of the House of Savoy, in most fiefs, in the event of the demise of all legitimate male members of the patrilineage, a female of the family could succeed. Spain today continues this model of succession law, in the form of cognatic primogeniture, in more complex medieval cases, the sometimes conflicting principles of proximity and primogeniture battled, and outcomes were often idiosyncratic

7.
High king
–
A high king is a king who holds a position of seniority over a group of other kings, without the title of Emperor. Similar titles include Great King and King of Kings, High kings can be chosen by lesser rulers through elections, or be put into power by force through conquest of weaker kingdoms. In this model, a king might be chosen from among a group of kings in his personal capacity. Alternatively, the kingship might be attached to the kingship of one of the constituent kingdoms. Rulers who have been termed high king include, Various rulers of the ancient and early medieval British Isles have been called high king, the High King of Ireland. Some British monarchs, such as the legendary King Arthur and Uther Pendragon, the ruler of the Picts the Bretwalda was essentially the high king of the Anglo-Saxons, though the name is rarely translated as such. Some ancient Greek rulers, such as Agamemnon, the most powerful king of the various Etruscan city-states. The Yang di-Pertuan Agong in Malaysia could probably be seen as a high king, in practice, however, the term high king is rarely applied to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, rather King. The Maharaja could possibly be rendered as high king, although the meaning is closer to great king. Daewang was used by rulers of other kingdoms and subsequent dynasties, including Baekje, originally, the rulers of Wa, an ancient name of Japan, was known as the Grand King of Yamato or the Kings of Wa prior to the 7th century. It was later changed to become the Emperor of Japan, the title King of Kings also expresses much the same concept as high king – it was used at various times by the Emperor of Persia and the Emperor of Ethiopia. Similarly, the Imperial Mongolian title Khagan is sometimes translated as Khan of Kahns, high-King is also the name of a J-pop group created in 2008 featuring Ai Takahashi, Reina Tanaka, Saki Shimizu, Maimi Yajima and Yuuka Maeda. He was also the High King over all Kings of Narnia, aslan, the deity and the Great Lion of Narnia, is described as being the High King above all High Kings, meaning He is the highest King over all rulers of Narnia. In J. R. R. Tolkiens works, mainly The Silmarillion, there was a succession of High Kings of the Noldor exiled in Middle-earth, beginning with Fëanor and culminating in Gil-galads reign. Ingwë, leader of the Vanyar, is referred as the High King of the Eldar. Thingol is acknowledged as high-king of Beleriand by Fingolfin, in the Third Age, the rulers of Arnor were known as High King, including Aragorn, as King Elessar, ruling the reunited kingdoms of Gondor and Arnor at the beginning of the Fourth Age. In Lloyd Alexanders Chronicles of Prydain, there is a line of High Kings of Prydain who are descendants of a family who came from the Summer Country in order to oppose Arawn. The High King throughout the series is Gwydions father Math, who is succeeded by Gwydion and later Taran in the final novel of the series

8.
Ranjit Singh
–
Maharaja Ranjit Singh, was the founder of the Sikh Empire, which ruled the northwest Indian subcontinent in the early half of the 19th century. He survived smallpox in infancy but lost sight in his left eye and he fought his first battle alongside his father at age 10. After his father died, he fought wars to expel the Afghans in his teenage years. His empire grew in the Punjab region under his leadership through 1839, prior to his rise, the Punjab region had numerous warring misls, twelve of which were under Sikh rulers and one Muslim. Ranjit Singh successfully absorbed and united the Sikh misls and took other local kingdoms to create the Sikh Empire. He repeatedly defeated invasions by Muslim armies, particularly those arriving from Afghanistan, Ranjit Singhs reign introduced reforms, modernization, investment into infrastructure, and general prosperity. His Khalsa army and government included Sikhs, Hindus, Muslims and he was popularly known as Sher-i-Punjab, or Lion of Punjab. Maharaja Ranjit Singh was succeeded by his son, Maharaja Kharak Singh, Ranjit Singh was born on 13 November 1780, to Mahan Singh Sukerchakia and Raj Kaur – the daughter of Raja Gajpat Singh of Jind, in Gujranwala, in the Majha region of Punjab. The childs name was changed to Ranjit by his father to commemorate his armys victory over the Muslim Chatha chieftain Pir Muhammad, Ranjit Singh contracted smallpox as an infant, which resulted in the loss of sight in his left eye and a pockmarked face. He was short in stature, never schooled, and did not learn to read or write anything beyond the Gurmukhi alphabet, however, he was trained at home in horse riding, musketry, at age 12, his father died. He then inherited his fathers Sukkarchakkia misl estates and was raised by his mother Raj Kaur, the first attempt on his life was made when he was age 13, by Hashmat Khan, but Ranjit Singh prevailed and killed the assailant instead. At age 18, his mother died and Lakhpat Rai was assassinated, in his teens, Ranjit Singh took to alcohol, a habit that intensified in the later decades of his life, according to the chronicles of his court historians and the Europeans who visited him. However, he neither smoked nor ate beef, and required all officials in his court, regardless of their religion, Ranjit Singh married many times, in various ceremonies, and had twenty wives. Some scholars note that the information on Ranjit Singhs marriages is unclear, according to Khushwant Singh in an 1889 interview with the French journal Le Voltaire, his son Dalip Singh remarked, I am the son of one of my fathers forty-six wives. At age 15, Ranjit Singh married his first wife Mahitab Kaur, the daughter of Sada Kaur and this marriage was pre-arranged in an attempt to reconcile warring Sikh misls, wherein Mahitab Kaur was betrothed to Ranjit Singh. However, the failed, with Mahitab Kaur never forgiving the fact that her father had been killed by Ranjit Singhs father. The separation became complete when Ranjit Singh married his second wife Raj Kaur of Nakai Misl in 1798, Raj Kaur, the daughter of Sardar Ran Singh Nakai, the third ruler of Nakai Misl, was Ranjit Singhs second wife and the mother of his heir, Kharak Singh. She changed her name from Raj Kaur to avoid confusion with Ranjit Singhs mother, throughout her life she remained the favourite of Ranjit Singh, who called her Mai Nakain

9.
Sikh Empire
–
The Sikh Empire, was a major power that originated on the Indian Subcontinent, which arose under the leadership of Maharaja Ranjit Singh who established a secular empire basing it around the Punjab. The empire existed from 1799, when Ranjit Singh captured Lahore, at its peak in the 19th century, the Empire extended from the Khyber Pass in the west to western Tibet in the east, and from Mithankot in the south to Kashmir in the north. It was the last major region of the subcontinent to be conquered by the British, the foundations of the Sikh Empire can be traced to as early as 1707, the year of Aurangzebs death and the start of the downfall of the Mughal Empire. This led to a growth of the army split into different confederacies or semi-independent misls. Each of these component armies controlled different areas and cities, however, in the period from 1762 to 1799, Sikh commanders of the misls appeared to be coming into their own as independent warlords. Ranjit Singh was proclaimed as Maharaja of the Punjab on 12 April 1801, sahib Singh Bedi, a descendant of Guru Nanak, conducted the coronation. Ranjit Singh rose to power in a short period, from a leader of a single misl to finally becoming the Maharaja of Punjab. He began to modernise his army, using the latest training as well as weapons, after the death of Ranjit Singh, the empire was weakened by internal divisions and political mismanagement. Finally, by 1849 the state was dissolved after the defeat in the Anglo-Sikh wars, the Sikh Empire was divided into four provinces, Lahore, in Punjab, which became the Sikh capital, Multan, also in Punjab, Peshawar and Kashmir from 1799 to 1849. The Sikh religion began around the time of the conquest of Northern India by Babur and his conquering grandson, Akbar the Great, supported religious freedom and after visiting the langar of Guru Amar Das got a favourable impression of Sikhism. As a result of his visit he donated land to the langar and his successor Jahangir, however, saw the Sikhs as a political threat. He ordered Guru Arjun Dev, who had arrested for supporting the rebellious Khusrau Mirza. When the Guru refused, Jahangir ordered him to be put to death by torture, Guru Arjan Devs martyrdom led to the sixth Guru, Guru Hargobind, declaring Sikh sovereignty in the creation of the Akal Takht and the establishment of a fort to defend Amritsar. Jahangir attempted to assert authority over the Sikhs by jailing Guru Hargobind at Gwalior, the Sikh community did not have any further issues with the Mughal empire until the death of Jahangir in 1627. The succeeding son of Jahangir, Shah Jahan, took offence at Guru Hargobinds sovereignty, the ninth Guru, Guru Tegh Bahadur, moved the Sikh community to Anandpur and travelled extensively to visit and preach in defiance of Aurangzeb, who attempted to install Ram Rai as new guru. Guru Tegh Bahadur aided Kashmiri Pandits in avoiding conversion to Islam and was arrested by Aurangzeb, when offered a choice between conversion to Islam and death, he chose to die rather than compromise his principles and was executed. Guru Gobind Singh assumed the guruship in 1675 and to battles with Sivalik Hill rajas moved the guruship to Paunta. There he built a fort to protect the city and garrisoned an army to protect it

10.
Gupta Empire
–
The Gupta Empire was an ancient Indian empire founded by Sri Gupta. The empire existed at its zenith from approximately 320 to 550 CE, the peace and prosperity created under the leadership of the Guptas enabled the pursuit of scientific and artistic endeavors. Chandragupta I, Samudragupta, and Chandragupta II were the most notable rulers of the Gupta dynasty, the high points of the period is great cultural developments which took place during the reign of Chandragupta II. Science and political administration reached new heights during the Gupta era, strong trade ties also made the region an important cultural center and set the region up as a base that would influence nearby kingdoms and regions in Burma, Sri Lanka, and Southeast Asia. The earliest available Indian epics are also thought to have committed to written texts around this period. After the collapse of the Gupta Empire in the 6th century, a minor line of the Gupta clan continued to rule Magadha after the disintegration of the empire. These Guptas were ultimately ousted by Vardhana ruler Harsha, who established his empire in the first half of the 7th century, according to many historians, the Gupta dynasty was a Vaishya dynasty. Historian Ram Sharan Sharma asserts that the Vaishya Guptas appeared as a reaction against oppressive rulers, brannigan, the rise of the Gupta Empire was one of the most prominent violations of the caste system in ancient India. There is controversy among scholars about the homeland of the Guptas. Jayaswal has pointed out that the Guptas were originally inhabitants of Prayaga, Uttar Pradesh, in north India, another scholar, Gayal supported the theory of Jaiswal, suggesting that the original home of the Guptas was Antarvedi embracing the regions of Oudh and Prayag. However another historian of this time in Indian history, Ganguli, has offered a different view about the original Gupta homeland, according to him the Guptas homeland is further south, the Murshidabad region of Bengal, and not Magadha in Bihar. He based his theory on the statement of the Chinese Buddhist monk, Yijing, fleet and other historians however criticize Gangulis theory because Sri Gupta ruled during the end of the 3rd century, but Yijing placed him at the end of the 2nd century. Hence the theory of historians, who have provided their views based on the accounts of Yijing, are considered less valid than theories based on sources such as coinage. From these theories, several conflicting opinions about the original homeland, according to Allan and a few other scholars, the Guptas were initially concentrated in the region of Magadha and from there they extended their sway to Bengal. According to other groups, the homeland of the Guptas was Varendri or the Varendra Bhumi in Bengal. Whatever the theory is, the rule of the Guptas initiated the Golden Age in history of ancient India, bengali historians like HC Raychoudhuri the Guptas originated from the Varendri region which is now part of Rangpur and Rajshahi Division of modern-day Bangladesh. DC Ganguly, on the hand, considers the surrounding region of Murshidabad as the original home of the Guptas. The most likely time for the reign of Sri Gupta is c, the Murundas who were feudal lords of Kushans provided or granted land to Srigupta

11.
Hari Singh
–
Hari Singh was the last ruling Maharaja of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir in India. With his fourth wife, Maharani Tara Devi, he had one son, in 1903, Hari Singh served as a page of honour to Lord Curzon at the grand Delhi Durbar. At the age of thirteen, Hari Singh was dispatched to the Mayo College in Ajmer, a year later, in 1909, his father died, and the British took a keen interest in his education and appointed Major H. K. Brar as his guardian. After Mayo College, the ruler-in-waiting went to the British-run Imperial Cadet Corps at Dehra Dun for military training, Pratap Singh appointed him as commander-in-chief of the state forces of Jammu and Kashmir in 1915. Following the death of his uncle Pratap Singh in 1925, Hari Singh ascended the throne of Jammu and he made primary education compulsory in the state, introduced laws prohibiting child marriage, and opened places of worship to the low castes. His ascent was despite misgivings concerning youthful escapades, including him having paid £300,000 when he was blackmailed by a prostitute in Paris in 1921. That issue had resulted in a case in London in 1924 during which the India Office tried to keep his name out of proceedings by arranging for him to be referred to as Mr. A. He also opposed the Muslim League and its members communalist outlook, during the Second World War, from 1944–1946 Sir Hari Singh was a member of the Imperial War Cabinet. In 1947, after India gained independence from British rule, Jammu, Hari Singh originally manoeuvred to maintain his independence by playing off India and Pakistan. Jammu and Kashmir was a Muslim majority state, and Pashtun tribesmen from Pakistan invaded Jammu, Hari Singh appealed to India for help. Hence, considering the situation, the Maharaja signed an Instrument of Accession to the Dominion of India. Hari Singh signed the Instrument of Accession on 26 October 1947 and these events triggered the first Indo-Pakistan War. Karan Singh was appointed Sadr-e-Riyasat in 1952 and Governor of the State in 1964, Hari Singh spent his final days at the Hari Niwas Palace in Jammu. He died on 26 April 1961 at Bombay, as per his will, his ashes were brought to Jammu and spread all over Jammu and Kashmir and immersed in the Tawi River at Jammu. The British Crown was at the top, representing the Emperor of India, a katar or ceremonial dagger sat below the crown. An image of the sun was between them, that symbolised his Rajput lineage from Lord Surya, the Hindu Sun God, Dharampur Rani Sri Lal Kunverba Sahiba, married at Rajkot 7 May 1913, died during pregnancy in 1915. Chamba Rani Sahiba, married at Chamba 8 November 1915, died 31 January 1920, Maharani Dhanvant Kunveri Baiji Sahiba, married at Dharampur 30 April 1923. Maharani Tara Devi Sahiba of Kangra, married 1928, separated 1950, one son, Yuvraj, salutations to Guruji Golwalkar – IV

12.
Jammu and Kashmir (princely state)
–
Jammu and Kashmir was, from 1846 until 1952, a princely state in the British Empire in India, and was ruled by Jamwal Rajput Dogra Dynasty. The state was created in 1846 after the First Anglo-Sikh War as per the Treaty of Amritsar. At the time of the Indian independence, Maharaja Hari Singh, on 26 October 1947, the Maharaja signed the Instrument of Accession joining the Dominion of India in return for military aid. The western and northern districts presently known as Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan passed to the control of Pakistan, the Dogra state in Jammu was established by Dhruv Dev during the declining years of the Mughal Empire. Raja Gulab Singh, his descendant, was 16 years old when, in 1808. Gulab Singh and his two brothers, Dhyan Singh and Suchet Singh, went on to enrol in the Sikh troops, Gulab Singh soon distinguished himself in battles, and was awarded a Jagir near Jammu and allowed to keep an independent force. After the conquest of Kishtwar and the subjugation of Rajouri, he was made a hereditary Raja of Jammu in 1822, Ranjit Singh personally anointed him as the Raja. His brother Dhyan Singh received Poonch and Suchet Singh Ramnagar, by 1827, Gulab Singh brought under his control all the principalities lying between Kashmir and Jammu. Dhyan Singh became the Lord Chamberlain and, later, Prime Minister for Ranjit Singh, Gulab Singh acquired fame in the Sikh court as a warrior and an able manager of the States affairs. The conquest of Kishtwar meant that Singh had gained control of two of the roads led into Ladakh, which then led to the conquest of that territory. Although there were huge difficulties due to the mountains and glaciers, a few years later, in 1840, Zorawar Singh invaded Baltistan, captured the Raja of Skardu, who had sided with the Ladakhis, and annexed his country to Gulab Singhs kingdom. In 1841 Zorawar Singh invaded Tibet, but perished with nearly his entire army in the harsh winter, whether it was policy or whether it was accident, by 1840 Gulab Singh had encircled Kashmir. After the death of Maharaja Ranjit Singh in 1839, the Sikh court fell into anarchy, Gulab Singhs brothers Dhyan Singh and Suchet Singh as well as his nephew Hira Singh were murdered in the struggles. His eldest son, Udham Singh, also died in the process, Gulab Singh was careful to disassociate himself from the intrigues and focused on managing his Jagir and expanding his influence in the territories surrounding Kashmir. But Gulab Singh used his skills as well as diplomacy to turn the Sikh troops in his favour. He was however forced to surrender his second nephew Jawahir Singh, heir to Dhyan Singh, on the eve of the First Anglo-Sikh War, the relations between Gulab Singh and the Sikh Darbar were severely strained. He also maintained relations with the Company and had no intention of jeopardising them for the sake of the anarchic Sikh Darbar. On the other hand, The Sikh army had no trust in any of the Sikh commanders in Lahore and this, Gulab Singh refused to do

13.
Indian Independence Act 1947
–
The Indian Independence Act 1947 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that partitioned British India into the two new independent dominions of India and Pakistan. The Act received the royal assent on 18 July 1947, however, due to viceroy Lord Mountbattens need to be in New Delhi for the transfer of power, Pakistan celebrated its formation a day ahead on 14 August 1947 to enable him to attend both events. This plan was the last plan for independence and this was also known as the Mountbatten Plan. The Act also made provision for the division of joint property, Two new dominion states, Two new dominions were to emerge from the Indian Union, Pakistan and India. Appointed Date,15 August 1947 was declared as the date for the partition. Territories, Pakistan, East Bengal, West Punjab, Sind, the fate of North West Frontier Province was subject to the result of referendum. The fate of District Sylhet, in the province of Assam, was to be decided in a referendum. Constitution for the New Dominions, until the time of framing of new constitution, the new dominions and the provinces thereof were to be governed by the Government of India Act 1935. The Governors General of the new dominions, For each of the new dominion a new Governor-General was to be appointed by the Crown, powers of Governor General, The Governor General was empowered to bring this Act in force. Power to introduce any change was until 31 March 1948, after that it was open to the constituent assembly to modify or adopt the same Act, Governor-General had full powers to give assent to any law. Legislation for the new dominions, The existing legislative setup was allowed to continue as Constitution making body as well as a legislature, the legislature of each dominion was given full powers to make laws for that dominion, including laws having extraterritorial operation. No Act of Parliament of UK passed after the date would be extended to the territories of new dominions. No law and provision of any law made by the legislature of the new dominions shall be void or inoperative on the ground that it is repugnant to the law of England. The Governor-General of each dominion had full powers to give assent in His Majesty’s name to any law of the legislature. Consequences of setting up of the new dominions, His Majesty’s Government lost all the responsibility to the new dominions The suzerainty of His Majesty’s Government over the Indian States lapsed, all the treaties or agreements in force at the passing of the Act lapsed. The title of Emperor of India was dropped from the titles of British Crown, Armed Forces, Sections 11,12, &13 dealt with the future of Indian Armed Forces. A Partition Committee was formed on 7 June 1947, with two representatives from each side and the viceroy in the chair, to decide about the division thereof. As soon as the process of partition was to start it was to be replaced by a Partition Council with a similar structure

14.
Widow
–
A widow is a woman whose spouse has died, while a widower is a man in that situation. The state of having lost ones spouse to death is termed widowhood and these terms are not applied to a person after he or she becomes divorced from their former spouse. The term widowhood can be used for sex, at least according to some dictionaries. Occasionally, the word viduity is used, the adjective form for either sex is widowed. When the death of a spouse occurs, it is said that an effect is to arise. This is a phenomenon that refers to the mortality rate after the death of a spouse. It is “strongest during the first three months after a death, when they had a 66-percent increased chance of dying”. Most widows and widowers suffer from this effect during the first 3 months of their spouses death, in societies where the husband is the sole provider, his death can leave his family destitute. The tendency for women generally to outlive men can compound this, in some patriarchal societies, widows may maintain economic independence. A woman would carry on her spouses business and be accorded certain rights, more recently, widows of political figures have been among the first women elected to high office in many countries, such as Corazón Aquino or Isabel Martínez de Perón. In 19th-century Britain, widows had greater opportunity for social mobility than in other societies. Along with the ability to ascend socio-economically, widows—who were presumably celibate—were much more able to challenge conventional sexual behaviour than married women in their society. Many immigrants from these cultures to the United States as recently as the 1970s have loosened this strict standard of dress to only two years of black garments. However, Orthodox Christian immigrants may wear black in the United States to signify their widowhood. In other cultures, however, widowhood is much stricter and unarguably more demeaning to womens rights, often, women are required to remarry within the family of their late husband after a period of mourning. As of 2004, women in United States who were widowed at younger ages are at greatest risk for economic hardship, similarly, married women who are in a financially unstable household are more likely to become widows because of the strong relationship between mortality and wealth. In underdeveloped and developing areas of the world, conditions for widows continue to be more severe. A variable that is deemed important and relative to the effects of widowhood is the gender of the widow

15.
Raja
–
Raja, is a title for a Monarch or princely ruler in South and Southeast Asia. The female form Rani applies equally to the wife of a Raja, usually as queen consort and occasionally as regent. The title has a history in the Indian subcontinent and South East Asia, being attested from the Rigveda, where a rājan- is a ruler, see for example the dāśarājñá. Sanskrit rājan- is cognate to Latin rēx King, Gaulish rīx, Gaelic rí, etc. originally denoting heads of petty kingdoms and it is believed to be ultimately derived from the Proto-Indo-European *h3rēǵs, a vrddhi formation to the root *h3reǵ- to straighten, to order, to rule. The Sanskrit n-stem is secondary in the title, apparently adapted from the female counterpart rājñī which also has an -n- suffix in related languages. Cognates of the word Raja in other Indo-European languages include English reign, rather common, practically equivalent variants in Rajasthani, Marathi and Hindi, used as equivalent royal style in parts of India include Rana, Rao, Raol, Rawal and rawat and Yuvraj prince heir. Maharaja, or great king, is literally a title for more significant rulers in India, hence during the British raj, precedence was rather determined by the gun salute. Raja රජ means King in Sri Lanka, Rajamanthri is the Prince lineage of Kings generation in Sri Lanka. Rajamanthri title is aristocracy of the Kandiyan Kingdom මහනුවර in Sri Lanka, badan Singh was styled Raja Mahendra and founded the city and state Bharatpur, which his dynasty ruled as Maharajas. Raja Sahib was the style in Bansda until its upgrade from c.1829 to higher counterpart Maharaja Sahib. Raja-i Rajgan was notably the royal style of, the former Rajas of Jind from * until their 1911 upgrade to Maharaja, the former Rajas of Kapurthala from 1861 until their 1911 upgrade to Maharaja. Two consecutive rulers of Patiala, the first of which was originally styled Maharaja, Raja Bahadur, and remained the rulers of Raigarh. as 1763 upgrade from the family title Raja Sar Desai in Maratha state Savantvadi. e. Third prince in line for succession, there were many more Rajas among the feudatory states, such as jagirs. In Pakistan, Raja is still used by Muslim Rajput clans as hereditary titles, Raja is also used as a given name by Hindus and Sikhs. Most notably Raja is used in Hazara division of Pakistan for the descendants of a Turkic dynasty and these Rajas ruled that part of Pakistan for decades and they still possess huge land in Hazara division of Pakistan and actively participate in the politics of the region. In Sinhalese, the title Raja means King of Sri Lanka, Rajamanthri is the Prince lineage of Kings generation especially Rajamanthri is aristocracy of the Kingdom of Kandy in Sri Lanka history. Indonesian has the word raja for king, leaders of local tribes and old Hindu kingdoms had that title before Indonesia became an independent nation. Various traditional princely states in Indonesia still style their ruler Raja, in the Malay language, the word raja also means king

16.
Greater India
–
In Central Asia transmission of ideas were predominantly of religious nature. By the early centuries of the common era most of the principalities of maritime and continental Southeast Asia had effectively absorbed defining aspects of Hindu culture and these Indianized Kingdoms, a term coined by George Cœdès were characterized by surprising resilience, political integrity and administrative stability. To the north, Indian religious ideas dissipated into the cosmology of Himalayan peoples, most profoundly in Tibet, Buddhist monasticism extended into Afghanistan, Uzbekistan and other parts of Central Asia and Buddhist texts and ideas successfully reached China and Japan in the east. Unlike Southeast Asia cultural and technological stimulation in East Asia always went in both directions, to the west, Indian culture converges with Greater Persia via the Hindukush and the Pamir Mountains. The concept of the Three Indias was in common circulation In pre-industrial Europe, Greater India was the southern part of South Asia, Lesser India was the northern part of South Asia, and Middle India was the region near the Middle East. The Portuguese form was used at least since the mid-15th century, however, in some accounts of European nautical voyages, Greater India extended from the Malabar Coast to India extra Gangem and India Minor, from Malabar to Sind. Farther India was sometimes used to all of modern Southeast Asia. German atlases distinguished Vorder-Indien as the South Asian peninsula and Hinter-Indien as Southeast Asia, the Greater India Basin hypothesis Greater India, or Greater India Basin signifies the Indian Plate plus a postulated northern extension, the product of the Indian–Asia collision. Although its usage in geology pre-dates Plate tectonic theory, the term has seen increased usage since the 1970s, the hypothesis is legitimate as long as the controversy of the location and time of the India-Asia convergence exists. How and where the India–Asia convergence was accommodated, after the collision, at or before 52 Million years ago. Since the plates have converged up to 3,600 km ±35 km, yet the upper crustal shortening documented from the record of Asia. The Greater India Society The use of Greater India refers here to a popularization by a network of Bengali scholars in the 1920s who were all members of the Calcutta-based Greater India Society, the movements early leaders included the historian R. C. Majumdar, the philologists Suniti Kumar Chatterji and P. C, bagchi and the historians Phanindranath Bose and Kalidas Nag. The term Greater India and the notion of an explicit Hindu expansion of ancient Southeast Asia have been linked to both Indian nationalism and Hindu nationalism, iron age trade expansion caused regional geostrategic remodeling. Southeast Asia was now situated in the area of convergence of the Indian and the East Asian maritime trade routes. The earliest Hindu kingdoms emerged in Sumatra and Java, followed by mainland polities such as Funan, selective adoption of Indian civilization elements and individual suitable adaption stimulated the emergence of centralized states and development of highly organized societies. Ambitious local leaders realized the benefits of Hindu worship, rule in accord with universal moral principles represented in the concept of the devaraja was more appealing than the Chinese concept of intermediaries. The exact nature, process and extent of Indian influence upon the civilizations of the region is still debated by contemporary scholars

17.
Kannada
–
The language has roughly 40 million native speakers who are called Kannadigas, and a total of 50.8 million speakers according to a 2001 census. It is one of the languages of India and the official. The Kannada language is written using the Kannada script, which evolved from the 5th-century Kadamba script, Kannada is attested epigraphically for about one and a half millennia, and literary Old Kannada flourished in the 6th-century Ganga dynasty and during the 9th-century Rashtrakuta Dynasty. Kannada has a literary history of over a thousand years. Based on the recommendations of the Committee of Linguistic Experts, appointed by the ministry of culture, in July 2011, a centre for the study of classical Kannada was established as part of the Central Institute of Indian Languages at Mysore to facilitate research related to the language. Kannada is a Southern Dravidian language, and according to Dravidian scholar Sanford B, steever, its history can be conventionally divided into three periods, Old Kannada from 450–1200 CE, Middle Kannada from 1200–1700, and Modern Kannada from 1700 to the present. Kannada is influenced to an extent by Sanskrit. Influences of other such as Prakrit and Pali can also be found in the Kannada language. Literary Prakrit seems to have prevailed in Karnataka since ancient times, the vernacular Prakrit-speaking people may have come into contact with Kannada speakers, thus influencing their language, even before Kannada was used for administrative or liturgical purposes. Kannada phonetics, morphology, vocabulary, grammar and syntax show significant influence from these languages, some examples of naturalised words of Prakrit origin in Kannada are, baṇṇa derived from vaṇṇa, hunnime from puṇṇivā. Examples of naturalized Sanskrit words in Kannada are, varṇa, arasu from rajan, paurṇimā, Kannada has numerous borrowed words such as dina, kopa, surya, mukha, nimiṣa and anna. Pre-old Kannada was the language of Banavasi in the early Common Era, the Ashoka rock edict found at Brahmagiri has been suggested to contain words in identifiable Kannada. According to Jain tradition, Brahmi, the daughter of Rishabhadeva, the first Tirthankara of Jainism, invented 18 alphabets, including Kannada, which points to the antiquity of the language. Supporting this tradition, an inscription of about the 9th century CE, containing specimens of different alphabets and it has been claimed that the Greek dramatists of the 5th–4th century BCE were familiar with the Kannada country and language. This would show a far more intimate contact of the Greeks with Kannada culture than with Indian culture elsewhere, the palm manuscripts contained texts written not only in Greek, Latin and Hebrew, but also in Sanskrit and Kannada. In the 150 CE Prakrit book Gaathaa Saptashati, written by Haala Raja, Kannada words like tIr, tuppa, on the Pallava Prakrit inscription of 250 CE of Hire Hadagalis Shivaskandavarman, the Kannada word kOTe transforms into koTTa. In the 350 CE Chandravalli Prakrit inscription, words of Kannada origin like punaaTa, in one more Prakrit inscription of 250 CE found in Malavalli, Kannada towns like vEgooraM, kundamuchchaMDi find a reference. Pliny the Elder was a naval and army commander in the early Roman Empire and he writes about pirates between Muziris and Nitrias

18.
Tamil language
–
Tamil is a Dravidian language predominantly spoken by the Tamil people of India and Sri Lanka, and also by the Tamil diaspora, Sri Lankan Moors, Burghers, Douglas, and Chindians. Tamil is a language of two countries, Singapore and Sri Lanka. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and it is also used as one of the languages of education in Malaysia, along with English, Malay and Mandarin. Tamil is also spoken by significant minorities in the four other South Indian states of Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana and it is one of the 22 scheduled languages of India. Tamil is one of the classical languages in the world. Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions from 500 BC have been found on Adichanallur and 2 and it has been described as the only language of contemporary India which is recognizably continuous with a classical past. The variety and quality of classical Tamil literature has led to it being described as one of the classical traditions. A recorded Tamil literature has been documented for over 2000 years, the earliest period of Tamil literature, Sangam literature, is dated from ca.300 BC – AD300. It has the oldest extant literature among other Dravidian languages, the earliest epigraphic records found on rock edicts and hero stones date from around the 3rd century BC. More than 55% of the inscriptions found by the Archaeological Survey of India are in the Tamil language. Tamil language inscriptions written in Brahmi script have been discovered in Sri Lanka, the two earliest manuscripts from India, acknowledged and registered by the UNESCO Memory of the World register in 1997 and 2005, were written in Tamil. In 1578, Portuguese Christian missionaries published a Tamil prayer book in old Tamil script named Thambiraan Vanakkam, the Tamil Lexicon, published by the University of Madras, was one of the earliest dictionaries published in the Indian languages. According to a 2001 survey, there were 1,863 newspapers published in Tamil, Tamil belongs to the southern branch of the Dravidian languages, a family of around 26 languages native to the Indian subcontinent. It is also classified as being part of a Tamil language family, the closest major relative of Tamil is Malayalam, the two began diverging around the 9th century CE. According to linguists like Bhadriraju Krishnamurti, Tamil, as a Dravidian language, descends from Proto-Dravidian, linguistic reconstruction suggests that Proto-Dravidian was spoken around the third millennium BC, possibly in the region around the lower Godavari river basin in peninsular India. The material evidence suggests that the speakers of Proto-Dravidian were of the associated with the Neolithic complexes of South India. The next phase in the reconstructed proto-history of Tamil is Proto-South Dravidian, the linguistic evidence suggests that Proto-South Dravidian was spoken around the middle of the second millennium BC, and that proto-Tamil emerged around the 3rd century BC. The earliest epigraphic attestations of Tamil are generally taken to have been shortly thereafter

19.
Hindi
–
Hindi, or Modern Standard Hindi is a standardised and Sanskritised register of the Hindustani language. Along with the English language, Hindi written in the Devanagari script, is the language of the Government of India. It is also one of the 22 scheduled languages of the Republic of India, Hindi is the lingua franca of the so-called Hindi belt of India. Outside India, it is a language which is known as Fiji Hindi in Fiji, and is a recognised regional language in Mauritius, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana. Hindi is the fourth most-spoken first language in the world, after Mandarin, apart from specialized vocabulary, Hindi is mutually intelligible with Standard Urdu, another recognized register of Hindustani. Part XVII of the Indian Constitution deals with Official Language, under Article 343, official language of the Union has been prescribed, which includes Hindi in Devanagari script and English. Gujarat High Court, in 2010, has observed that there was nothing on record to suggest that any provision has been made or order issued declaring Hindi as a language of India. Article 343 of the Indian constitution states The official language of the Union shall be Hindi in Devanagari script, the form of numerals to be used for the official purposes of the Union shall be the international form of Indian numerals. It was envisioned that Hindi would become the working language of the Union Government by 1965. Each may also designate a co-official language, in Uttar Pradesh, for instance, depending on the formation in power. Similarly, Hindi is accorded the status of language in the following Union Territories, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Chandigarh, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Daman & Diu. National-language status for Hindi is a long-debated theme, an Indian court clarified that Hindi is not the national language of India because the constitution does not mention it as such. Outside Asia, Hindi is a language in Fiji as per the 1997 Constitution of Fiji. It is spoken by 380,000 people in Fiji, Hindi is also spoken by a large population of Madheshis of Nepal. Hindi is quite easy to understand for some Pakistanis, who speak Urdu, apart from this, Hindi is spoken by the large Indian diaspora which hails from, or has its origin from the Hindi Belt of India. Like other Indo-Aryan languages, Hindi is considered to be a descendant of an early form of Sanskrit, through Sauraseni Prakrit. It has been influenced by Dravidian languages, Turkic languages, Persian, Arabic, Portuguese, Hindi emerged as Apabhramsha, a degenerated form of Prakrit, in the 7th century A. D. By the 10th century A. D. it became stable, Braj Bhasha, Bhojpuri, Awadhi, Khari Boli etc. are the dialects of Hindi

20.
Marathi language
–
Marathi is an Indian language spoken predominantly by the Marathi people of Maharashtra. It is the language and co-official language in the Maharashtra and Goa states of Western India, respectively. There were 73 million speakers in 2001, Marathi ranks 19th in the list of most spoken languages in the world, Marathi has the fourth largest number of native speakers in India, after Hindi, Bengali and Telugu in that order. Marathi has some of the oldest literature of all modern Indo-Aryan languages, the major dialects of Marathi are Standard Marathi and the Varhadi dialect. Malvani Konkani has been influenced by Marathi varieties. Marathi has several features that set it aside from most other Indian languages, Marathi distinguishes inclusive and exclusive forms of we and possesses a three-way gender system that features the neuter in addition to the masculine and the feminine. In its phonology it contrasts apico-alveolar with alveopalatal affricates and, in common with Gujarati, Marathi is primarily spoken in Maharashtra and parts of neighbouring states of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Goa, union-territories of Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli. The cities of Baroda, Surat, and Ahmedabad, Belgaum, Karwar, Nipani, Indore, Gwalior, Adoni, Hyderabad, Marathi is also spoken by Maharashtrian emigrants worldwide, especially in the United States, United Kingdom, Israel, Mauritius, and Canada. Marathi is the language of Maharashtra and co-official language in the union territories of Daman and Diu and Dadra. In Goa, Konkani is the official language, however. Marathi is included among the languages which stand a part of the Eight Schedule of the Constitution of India, the contemporary grammatical rules described by Maharashtra Sahitya Parishad and endorsed by the Government of Maharashtra are supposed to take precedence in standard written Marathi. Traditions of Marathi Linguistics and the rules give special status to tatsamas. This special status expects the rules for tatsamas to be followed as in Sanskrit and this practice provides Marathi with a large treasure of Sanskrit words to cope with demands of new technical words whenever needed. Jawaharlal Nehru University has announced plans to establish a department for Marathi. Marathi Day is celebrated on 27 February, the birthday of poet Vishnu Vaman Shirwadkar, Indian languages, including Marathi, that belong to the Indo-Aryan language family are derived from early forms of Prakrit. Marathi is one of languages that further descend from Maharashtri Prakrit. Marathi literature began and grew owing to the rise of the Seuna dynasty of Devgiri, further growth and usage of the language was because of two religious sects – the Mahanubhava and Varkari panthans – who adopted Marathi as the medium for preaching their doctrines of devotion. Marathi had attained a place in court life by the time of the Seuna kings

21.
Rajasthani language
–
Rajasthani refers to a group of Indo-Aryan languages spoken primarily in the states of Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab, Gujarat, and Madhya Pradesh in India. There are also Rajasthani-speakers in the Pakistani provinces of Sindh and Punjab, Rajasthani is one of the two major language strains descended from Maru-Gujar or Maruwani, the other being modern Gujarati. Rajasthani has a tradition of literature aging approximately 1500 years. Ancient astronomer and mathematician Brahmagupta of Bhinmal composed Brahsfut Siddhanta, in 779 A. D. Udhyotan Suri wrote Kuvalaya Mala partly in Prakrit & partly in Aprabransh. Maru-Gurjar or Maruwani or Gujjar Bhakha, ancestor of Gujarati and Rajasthani, was spoken by the Gurjars in Gujarat, texts of this era display characteristic Gujarati features such as direct/oblique noun forms, post-positions, and auxiliary verbs. It had three genders as Gujarati does today, during the medieval period, the literary language split away from Gujarati. By around 1300 CE a fairly standardised form of this language emerged, while generally known as Old Gujarati, some scholars prefer the name of Old Western Rajasthani, based on the argument that Gujarati and Rajasthani were not distinct at the time. A formal grammar of the precursor to language was written by Jain monk. Maharana Kumbha wrote Sangeet Raj, a book on musicology and a treatise on Jai Deva’s Geet Govinda, the Rajasthani languages belong to the Western Indo-Aryan language family. However, they are controversially conflated with the Hindi languages of the Central-Zone in the Indian national census, the varieties of the Rajasthani language are, Rajasthani Standard, the common lingua franca of Rajasthani people and is spoken by over 18 million people in different parts of Rajasthan. It has to be taken into consideration, however, that speakers of Standard Rajasthani are conflated with Hindi speakers in the census. Marwari, the most spoken Rajasthani language with approximately 45 to 50 million speakers situated in the historic Marwar region of western Rajasthan, the 2001 census, however, records only 15 million speakers. Like Standard Rajasthani, many Marwari speakers are conflated with Hindi speakers in the census, malvi, approximately 10 million speakers in the Malwa region of Madhya Pradesh. Dhundhari, approximately 8 million speakers in the Dhundhar region of Rajasthan, Harauti, approximately 4 million speakers in the Hadoti region of Rajasthan. Mewari, approximately 5 million speakers in the Mewar region of Rajasthan, mewati, approximately 645,000 speakers in the Mewat region, comprising Haryana and Rajasthan. Shekhawati, approximately 3 million speakers in the Shekhawati region of Rajasthan, wagdi, approx 2.2 million speakers, spoken mainly in southern region which include Dungarpur & Banswara districts also called Wagad region. Bagri, approximately 1.4 million speakers in northern Rajasthan, there are also speakers situated in southern Punjab. Nimadi, approximately 2.2 million speakers in the Nimar region of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthani languages are also spoken in the Bahawalpur and Multan sectors of the Pakistani provinces of Punjab and Tharparkar district of Sindh

22.
Malvi
–
The Malvi or Malavi, also known as Manthani or Mahadeopuri, is breed of zebu cattle from the Malwa plateau in western Madhya Pradesh, in central India. Pune, Secretary Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education

23.
Telugu language
–
Telugu is a Dravidian language native to India. It is also spoken by significant minorities in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and it is one of six languages designated a classical language of India by the Government of India. Telugu ranks third by the number of speakers in India. It is one of the scheduled languages of the Republic of India. Approximately 10,000 inscriptions exist in the Telugu language, the speakers of the language call it Telugu or Tenugu. The older forms of the name include Teluṅgu, Tenuṅgu and Teliṅga, the etymology of Telugu is not certain. Some historical scholars have suggested a derivation from Sanskrit triliṅgam, as in Trilinga Desa, tradition holds that Shiva descended as a lingam on three mountains, Kaleshwaram, Srisailam, and Bhimeswaram, which are said to have marked the boundaries of the Trilinga Desa. Atharvana Acharya in the 13th century wrote a grammar of Telugu, Appa Kavi in the 17th century explicitly wrote that Telugu was derived from Trilinga. Scholar Charles P. Brown comments that it was a strange notion as all the predecessors of Appa Kavi had no knowledge of such a derivation. George Abraham Grierson and other linguists doubt this derivation, holding rather that Telugu was the older term, another view holds that tenugu is derived from the proto-Dravidian word ten– south to mean the people who lived in the south/southern direction. The name telugu then, is a result of n -> l alternation established in Telugu, according to the natve tradition Telugu grammar has a hoary past. Sage Kanva was said to be the first grammarian of Telugu, a Rajeswara Sarma discussed the hisoricity and content of Kanvas grammar written in Sanskrit. He cited twenty grammatical aphorisms ascribed to Kanva, and concluded that Kanva wrote an ancient Telugu Grammar which was lost, according to the Russian linguist M. S. Andronov, Telugu split from the Proto-Dravidian languages between 1500 and 1000 BC. According to linguist Bhadriraju Krishnamurti, Telugu, as a Dravidian language, descends from Proto-Dravidian, linguistic reconstruction suggests that Proto-Dravidian was spoken around the third millennium BC, possibly in the region around the lower Godavari river basin in peninsular India. The material evidence suggests that the speakers of Proto-Dravidian were of the associated with the Neolithic societies of South India. A legend gives the Lepakshi town a significant place in the Ramayana — this was where the bird Jatayu fell, when Sri Rama reached the spot, he saw the bird and said compassionately, “Le Pakshi” — ‘rise, bird’ in Telugu. This indicates the presence of Telugu Language during Ramayana period, there is a mention of Telugu people or Telugu country in ancient Tamil literature as Telunka Nadu. Telugu words were found in Hebrew literature, inscriptions with Telugu words dating back to 400 BC to 100 BC have been discovered in Bhattiprolu in the Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh

24.
Punjabi language
–
Punjabi /pʌnˈdʒɑːbi/ is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by over 100 million native speakers worldwide, making it the 10th most widely spoken language in the world. It is the language of the Punjabi people who inhabit the historical Punjab region of India. Among the Indo-European languages it is unusual in being a tonal language, Punjabi is the most widely spoken language in Pakistan, the 11th most widely spoken in India and the third-most spoken native language in the Indian Subcontinent. Punjabi is the fourth-most spoken language in the United Kingdom and third-most spoken native language in Canada, the language also has a significant presence in the United Arab Emirates, United States, Saudi Arabia, and Australia. The Punjabi language is written in the Shahmukhi and Gurmukhi scripts, the word Punjabi is derived from the word Panj-āb, Persian for Five Waters, referring to the five major eastern tributaries of the Indus River. Panj is cognate with Sanskrit pañca and Greek πέντε five, the historical Punjab region, now divided between India and Pakistan, is defined physiographically by the Indus River and these five tributaries. One of the five, the Beas River, is a tributary of another, Punjabi developed from Sanskrit through Prakrit language and later Apabhraṃśa From 600 BC Sanskrit gave birth to many regional languages in different parts of India. These all languages are called Prakrit language collectively, Shauraseni Prakrit was one of these Prakrit languages, which was spoken in north and north-western India and Punjabi and western dialects of Hindi developed from this Prakrit. Later in northern India Shauraseni Prakrit gave rise to Shauraseni Aparbhsha, Punjabi emerged as an Apabhramsha, a degenerated form of Prakrit, in the 7th century A. D. and became stable by the 10th century. By the 10th century, many Nath poets were associated with earlier Punjabi works, Arabic and Persian influence in the historical Punjab region began with the late first millennium Muslim conquests on the Indian subcontinent. The Persian language was introduced in the subcontinent a few centuries later by various Persianized Central Asian Turkic, many Persian and Arabic words were incorporated in Punjabi. Punjabi has more Persian and Arabic vocabulary than Bengali, Marathi, later, it was influenced by Portuguese and English, though these influences have been minor in comparison to Persian and Arabic. However, in India English words in the language are more widespread than Hindi. Punjabi is the most widely spoken language in Pakistan, the seventh-most widely spoken in India, Punjabi is the most widely spoken language in Pakistan. Punjabi is the language in the Punjab Province of Pakistan. Punjabi is spoken as a language by over 44. 15% of Pakistanis. About 70. 0% of the people of Pakistan speak Punjabi as either their first or second language, Lahore, the capital of the Punjab Province of Pakistan, is the largest Punjabi-speaking city in the world. 86% of the population of Lahore is native Punjabi and Islamabad

25.
Bengali language
–
Bengali, also known by its endonym Bangla, is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in South Asia. With over 210 million speakers, Bengali is the seventh most spoken language in the world. Dominant in the last group was Persian, which was also the source of some grammatical forms, more recent studies suggest that the use of native and foreign words has been increasing, mainly because of the preference of Bengali speakers for the colloquial style. Today, Bengali is the language spoken in Bangladesh and the second most spoken language in India. Both the national anthems of Bangladesh and India were composed in Bengali, in 1952, the Bengali Language Movement successfully pushed for the languages official status in the Dominion of Pakistan. In 1999, UNESCO recognized 21 February as International Mother Language Day in recognition of the movement in East Pakistan. Language is an important element of Bengali identity and binds together a diverse region. Sanskrit was spoken in Bengal since the first millennium BCE, during the Gupta Empire, Bengal was a hub of Sanskrit literature. The Middle Indo-Aryan dialects were spoken in Bengal in the first millennium when the region was a part of the Magadha Realm and these dialects were called Magadhi Prakrit. They eventually evolved into Ardha Magadhi, Ardha Magadhi began to give way to what are called Apabhraṃśa languages at the end of the first millennium. Along with other Eastern Indo-Aryan languages, Bengali evolved circa 1000–1200 AD from Sanskrit, for example, Ardhamagadhi is believed to have evolved into Abahatta around the 6th century, which competed with the ancestor of Bengali for some time. Proto-Bengali was the language of the Pala Empire and the Sena dynasty, during the medieval period, Middle Bengali was characterized by the elision of word-final অ ô, the spread of compound verbs and Arabic and Persian influences. Bengali was a court language of the Sultanate of Bengal. Muslim rulers promoted the development of Bengali as part of efforts to Islamize. Bengali became the most spoken language in the Sultanate. This period saw borrowing of Perso-Arabic terms into Bengali vocabulary, major texts of Middle Bengali include Chandidas Shreekrishna Kirtana. The modern literary form of Bengali was developed during the 19th and early 20th centuries based on the dialect spoken in the Nadia region, a west-central Bengali dialect. Bengali presents a case of diglossia, with the literary

26.
Gujarati language
–
Gujarati /ɡʊdʒəˈrɑːti/ is an Indo-Aryan language native to the Indian state of Gujarat. It is part of the greater Indo-European language family, Gujarati is descended from Old Gujarati. In India, it is the language in the state of Gujarat, as well as an official language in the union territories of Daman and Diu and Dadra. Gujarati is the language of the Gujjars, who had ruled Rajputana, according to the Central Intelligence Agency,4. 5% of the Indian population speaks Gujarati, which amounts to 54.6 million speakers in India. There are about 65.5 million speakers of Gujarati worldwide, Gujarati was the first language of Mahatma Gandhi and Muhammad Ali Jinnah. Gujarati is a modern IA language evolved from Sanskrit, Central, in Gujarati/Rajasthani, Western Hindi, and Punjabi/Lahanda/Sindhi, on the basis of innovation of auxiliary verbs and postpositions in Gujarati/Rajasthani. Gujarati/Rajasthani into Gujarati and Rajasthani through development of such characteristics as auxiliary ch-, grammatically, a new plural marker of -o developed. In literature, the quarter of the 19th century saw a series of milestones for Gujarati. The printing was introduced in Gujarati in 1812, the first printed book published was the Gujarati translation of Dabestan-e Mazaheb prepared and printed by Parsi priest Fardunjee Marzban in 1815. 1822, first Gujarati newspaper, Mumbai Samachar, the oldest newspaper in India still in circulation, 1840s, personal diary composition, Nityanondh, Durgaram Mehta. 1845, first modern Gujarati poem, Bapani Piparu, Dalpatram 1851, first essay, Mandaḷī Maḷvāthi Thātā Lābh, Narmadashankar Dave 1866, first original novel, Karaṇ Ghelo, Nandshankar Mehta. 1866, first social novel, Sasu Vahu ni Ladai, Mahipatram Rupram Nilkanth 1866, first autobiography, Mārī Hakīkat,1900, first original short story, Shantidas, Ambalal Desai. Of the approximately 46 million speakers of Gujarati in 1997, roughly 45, however, Gujarati community leaders in Pakistan claim that there are 3 million Gujarati speakers in Karachi. There is an amount of Mauritian population and a large amount of Réunion Island people who are from Gujarati descent among which some of them still speak Gujarati. According to the 2011 census, Gujarati is the seventeenth most spoken language in the Greater Toronto Area, most, with British passports, settled in the UK. Gujarati is offered as a GCSE subject for students in the UK, a distribution of the geographical area can be found in Linguistic Survey of India by George A. Grierson. Gujarati is one of the recognized constitutional languages and fourteen regional languages of India. It is officially recognized in the state of Gujarat, India, in A simplified grammar of the Gujarati language by William Tisdall, two major dialects of Gujarati are mentioned, a standard Hindu dialect and a Parsi dialect

27.
Gondal, India
–
Gondal is a city and a municipality in the Rajkot district of the Indian state of Gujarat. Gondal state was one of the eight first class princely states of Kathiawar Agency, ruled by a Hindu Rajput dynasty of the Jadeja clan, the capital of the state was Gondal town. In 2011, the Population of the Gondal City Was 113,000 approximately, Gondal is mentioned in texts like Ain-i-Akbari and Mirat-i-Ahmadi as a Vaghela state in Sorath. The Gondal state in Kathiawar Agency was founded in 1634 by Thakore Shri Kumbhoji I Meramanji from the Jadeja dynasty, kumbhokis fourth descendant, Kumbhoji IV, increased the size of the state by acquiring parganas such as Doraji, Upleta, and Sarai. In 1901, Gondal city had a population of 19,592, the acestors of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, founder of Pakistan, belong to Paneli village in Gondal state. The Naulakha Palace is the oldest extant palace in Gondal, dating back to the 17th century and it has stone carvings with jharokhas, a pillared courtyard, delicately carved arches, and a unique spiral staircase. The large chandelier-lit durbar contains stuffed panthers, gilt wooden furniture, the Private Palace Museum has a display of silver caskets which were used to carry messages and gifts for Maharajah Bhagwat Sinhji during his silver jubilee as ruler of Gondal. The Riverside Palace was built in 1875 by Maharajah Bhagwat Sinhji for his son, the palace has now become a heritage hotel. The Huzoor Palace is the current royal residence, one wing of this palace, called the Orchard palace, is open to the public. It was built as an annex of the Huzoor Palace in the late 19th century to host guests of the Maharajas, the property gets its name from the fruit orchards, lawns and gardens that surround the palace. Orchard Palace was converted into a heritage hotel decorated with 1930s–1940s art deco furniture, antiques. The garden contains many types of birds, including a population of peacocks. The Room of Miniatures is a room with a collection of miniature paintings, brass. One of the highlights of the palace is the Rail Saloon of the family of Gondal which has been converted into a suite with a drawing room. The royal garages have a collection of vintage and classic cars. The rulers of Gondal were Thakurs of the Jadeja dynasty who had the right to an 11 gun salute and they bore the title Thakur Sahib from 1866 onwards. The people of the Gondal, as in most of the parts of Saurashtra, are considered highly spiritual. The temples in Gondal include Akshar Mandir and Deri, Shri Trikamrayji Haveli, Bhuvneshwari Mandir, Ashapura Mata, Sureshwar Mahadev, Dhareshwar Mahadev, there is also another Swaminarayan temple in the city centre

28.
Maratha
–
The Maratha is a group of castes in India found predominantly in the state of Maharashtra. According to the Encyclopædia Britannica, Marathas are people of India, famed in history as yeoman warriors and they reside primarily in the Indian state of Maharashtra. The general body of lists are often at variance with each other. The term Maratha originally referred to the speakers of the Marathi language, in the 17th century, it emerged as a designation for soldiers serving in the armies of Deccan sultanates. A number of Maratha warriors, including Shivajis father, Shahaji, by the mid-1660s, Shivaji had established an independent Maratha kingdom. After his death, Marathas fought under his sons and defeated Aurangzeb in the war of 27 years, the Confederacy remained the pre-eminent power in India until their defeat by the British East India Company in the Third Anglo-Maratha War. By 19th century, the term Maratha had several interpretations in the British administrative records, in the Thane District Gazetteer of 1882, the term was used to denote elite layers within various castes, for example, Maratha-Agri within Agri caste, Maratha-Koli within Koli caste and so on. In the Pune District, the words Kunbi and Maratha had become synonymous, the Pune District Gazetteer of 1882 divided the Kunbis into two classes, Marathas and other Kunbis. The 1901 census listed three groups within the Maratha-Kunbi caste complex, Marathas proper, Maratha Kunbis and Konkani Marathas, the Kunbi class comprised agricultural workers and soldiers. The upper-class Marathas proper claimed Rajput descent with Kshatriya status, and included princes, some of the Maratha clans claiming Rajput descent include Bhonsales, Chavans, and Pawar. Gradually, the term Maratha came to denote an endogamous caste, from 1900 onwards, the Satyashodhak Samaj movement defined the Marathas as a broader social category of non-Brahmin groups. These non-Brahmins gained prominence in Indian National Congress during the Indian independence movement, in independent India, these Marathas became the dominant political force in the newly-formed state of Maharashtra. The empire also resulted in the relocation of substantial numbers of Maratha and other Marathi-speaking people outside Maharashtra. Today several small but significant communities descended from these live in the north, south. These descendant communities tend often to speak the languages, although many also speak Marathi in addition. Notable Maratha families outside Maharashtra include Scindia of Gwalior, Gaekwad of Baroda, Holkar of Indore, Puar of Dewas & Dhar, Ghorpade of Mudhol, and Bhonsle of Nagpur. These Brahmins supported the Maratha claim to Kshatriya status, but their success in political alliance was sporadic. Marathas have dominated the politics of Maharashtra since its inception in 1960

29.
Sayajirao Gaekwad III
–
Sir Sayajirao Gaekwad III was the Maharaja of Baroda State from 1875 to 1939, and is notably remembered for reforming much of his state during his rule. He belonged to the royal Gaekwad dynasty of the Marathas which ruled most of present-day Gujarat, Sayajirao was born in a Maratha family at Kavlana in Malegaon Tahsil Dist. Nashik as Shrimant Gopalrao Gaekwad, second son of Meherban Shrimant Kashirao Bhikajirao Dada Sahib Gaekwad and his branch of the Gaekwad dynasty was a cadet branch descended from a morganatic marriage of the first Raja of Baroda and so was not expected to succeed to the throne. Following the death of Sir Khanderao Gaekwad, the popular Maharaja of Baroda, in 1870, it was expected that his brother, Malharrao, however, Malharrao had already proven himself to be of the vilest character and had been imprisoned earlier for conspiring to assassinate Khanderao. As Khanderaos widow, Maharani Jamnabai was already pregnant with a posthumous child, the child proved to be a daughter, and so upon her birth on 5 July 1871, Malharrao ascended the throne. Malharrao spent money liberally, nearly emptying the Baroda coffers and soon reached the Resident of Malharraos gross tyranny. Malharrao further attempted to cover up his deeds by poisoning the Resident with a compound of arsenic, by order of the Secretary of State for India, Lord Salisbury, Malharrao was deposed on 10 April 1875 and exiled to Madras, where he died in obscurity in 1882. Kashirao and his three sons, Anandrao, Gopalrao and Sampatrao walked to Baroda from Kavlana -a distance of some 600 kilometers- to present themselves to Jamnabai. It is reported that when each son was asked the reason for presenting themselves at Baroda, Gopalrao unhesitatingly stated. He was selected by the British Government as successor and was adopted by Maharani Jamnabai. He was also given a new name, Sayajirao and he ascended the gadi at Baroda,16 June 1875 but being a minor reigned under a Council of Regency until he came of age and was invested with full ruling powers on 28 December 1881. In this period Madhava Rao restored the state to its normal conditions following the chaos in which it had left by Malharrao. Not a little credit for what the Maharaja achieved during his life in every sphere of activity must be given to F. A. H. Elliot. On assuming the reins of government, some of his first tasks included education of his subjects, uplifting of the downtrodden, and judicial, agricultural and social reforms. Fully aware of the fact that he was a Maratha ruler of Gujarat, he identified himself with the people and shaped their cosmopolitan attitude and progressive, reformist zeal. His rich library became the nucleus of todays Central Library of Baroda with a network of libraries in all the towns and villages in his state. He was the first Indian ruler to introduce, in 1906, compulsory and free education in his state. To commemorate his vision and administrative skills, Baroda Management Association has instituted Sayaji Ratna Award in 2013 and he was granted the title of Farzand-i-Khas-i-Daulat-i-Inglishia on 29 December 1876

30.
Vadodara
–
Vadodara, the Cultural Capital of Gujarat, is the third largest city in the Western Indian State of Gujarat, after Ahmedabad and Surat. It is the headquarters of Vadodara District and is located on the banks of the Vishwamitri river. The railway line and NH8 that connect Delhi and Mumbai pass through Vadodara, as of 2011, Vadodara had a population of almost 2.2 million+ people. The city is known for the Lakshmi Vilas Palace, the residence of Baroda States Maratha royal family and it is also the home of the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, the largest university in Gujarat. The first recorded history of the city is that of the early settlers who settled in the region in 812 AD. The province was mainly Hindu-dominated with Hindu kings ruling until 1297, the Gupta Empire was the first power in the region in the early years of the CE. Later, the region was taken over by the Chaulukya dynasty, by this time Muslim rule had spread across India, and the reins of power were then snatched by the Delhi Sultans. The city was ruled for a time by these Sultans. The city used to be called Chandanavati after its ruler Raja Chandan of the Dor tribe of Rajputs, the capital was also known as Virakshetra or Viravati. Later on it was known as Vadpatraka or Vadodará, which according to tradition is a form of the Sanskrit word vatodar meaning in the belly of the Banyan tree. In 1974, the name of the city was changed to Vadodara. In 1907, a village and township in Michigan, United States, were named after Baroda. It is believed that early man lived on the banks of the Mahi River, there is evidence of the existence of early man in the Mahi River valley at a number of sites within 10 to 20 kilometres to the north-east of Vadodara. However, no evidence of the existence of people is found in. This may be because of the absence of gravels and cobbles on the banks of the Vishwamitri rivulet, Baroda State was a former Indian State in Western India. Vadodaras more recent history began when the Maratha general Pilaji Gaekwad conquered Songadh from the Mughals in 1726, before the Gaekwads captured Baroda, it was ruled by the Babi Nawabs, who were the officers of the Mughal rulers. Most notably, from 1705–1716, Sardar Senapati Khanderao Dabhade led the Maratha Empire forces in Baroda, except for a short period, Baroda continued to be in the reign of the Gaekwads from 1734 to 1948. Initially detailed to collect revenue on behalf of the Peshwa in Gujarat, damajirao, son and successor of Pilaji Gaekwad, defeated the Mughal armies and conquered Baroda in 1734

31.
Koch dynasty
–
The Koch dynasty of Assam and Bengal, named after the Koch tribe, emerged as the dominant ruling house in the Kamata kingdom in 1515 after the fall of the Khen dynasty in 1498. The dynasty forked for the first time two major branches that controlled Koch Bihar and Koch Hajo. Koch Bihar became a vassal of the Mughals, whereas Koch Hajo came under Ahom control and was subsequently absorbed, Koch Bihar became a princely state during British rule and was absorbed after Indian independence. A third branch of this dynasty at Khaspur disappeared into the Kachari kingdom, after the fall of the Pala dynasty of Kamarupa, the kingdom fractured into different domains in the 12th century. In the extreme east the Sutiya kingdom emerged on the bank of Brahmaputra river. The Ahom kingdom emerged in the bank and to their west was the Kachari kingdom. Sandhya, a ruler of Kamarupanagara moved his capital further west to present-day North Bengal in the middle of the 13th century, the buffer region, between the eastern kingdoms and Kamata was the domain of the Baro-Bhuyans chieftains. Alauddin Husain Shah of Gaur defeated Nilambar of Kamata in 1498, occupied the region and placed his son, Daniyal in charge. Within a few years, the Baro-Bhuyans, led by one Harup Narayan of the Brahmaputa valley defeated, captured and executed Daniyal, and the region lapsed into Bhuyan confederate rule. Meanwhile, an alliance was formed when a Mech chief, Hariya Mandal, Hariya Mandals domain was in Chikna Mountains situated between the Sankosh River and the Champabati River, about 80 kilometers north of Dhubri in the erstwhile Undivided Goalpara district of Assam. Bisu, who was to later become Viswa Singha, was born to Hariya Mandal, the first ruler of the Koch dynasty was Vishwa Singha, who established himself in 1515 as the ruler of the Kamata kingdom. According to J N Sarkar, Viswa Singha belonged to one of the dominant Koch tribes, the earliest known ancestor of Viswa Singha was his father Haria Mandal, from the Chiknabari village in Goalpara district, the head of the twelve most powerful Mech families. Haria Mandal was married to Jira and Hira, daughters of a Koch chief named Hajo, Viswa Singha was the son of Haria Mandal and Hira. Viswa Singha sought the alliance of tribal chiefs against the more powerful Baro-Bhuyans, successively, he defeated the Bhuyans of Ouguri, Jhargaon, Karnapur, Phulaguri, Bijni and Pandunath. He was particularly stretched by the Bhuyan of Kanrnapur, and could defeat him only by a stratagem during Bihu. After subjugating the petty rulers, he announced himself the king of Kamata bounded on the east by Barnadi river and he moved his capital from Chikana to Kamatapur which is just a few miles southeast of the present-day Cooch Behar town. Viswa Singhas two sons, Naranarayan and Shukladhwaj, the king and the commander-in-chief of the army respectively, Nara Narayan made Raghudev, the son of Chilarai, the governor of Koch Hajo, the eastern portion of the country. After the death of Nara Narayan, Raghudev declared independence, the division of the Kamata kingdom into Koch Bihar and Koch Hajo was permanent

32.
Duleep Singh
–
Maharaja Duleep Singh, GCSI, also known as Dalip Singh and later in life nicknamed the Black Prince of Perthshire, was the last Maharaja of the Sikh Empire. He was Maharaja Ranjit Singhs youngest son, the child of Maharani Jind Kaur. After the assassinations of four of his predecessors, he came to power in September 1843, for a while, his mother ruled as Regent, but in December 1846, after the First Anglo-Sikh War, she was replaced by a British Resident and imprisoned. Mother and son were not allowed to meet again for thirteen, in April 1849 ten-year-old Duleep was put in the care of Dr John Login. He was exiled to Britain at age 15 and was befriended and much admired by Queen Victoria, who is reported to have written of the Punjabi Maharaja, Those eyes, the Queen was godmother to several of his children. In 1856, he tried to contact his mother, but his letter and emissaries were intercepted by the British in India, and did not reach her. However, he persisted and, with help from Login, was allowed to meet her on 16 January 1861 at Spences Hotel in Calcutta and return with her to the United Kingdom. During the last two years of her life, his mother told the Maharaja about his Sikh heritage and the Empire which once had been his to rule. After the death of Maharaja Ranjit Singh in 1839, Duleep Singh lived quietly with his mother, Jind Kaur, at Jammu, under the protection of the vizier, over thirteen years passed before Duleep Singh was permitted to see his mother again. No Indians, except trusted servants, could meet him in private, as a matter of British policy, he was to be anglicised in every possible respect. His health was poor and he was often sent to the hill station of Landour near Mussoorie in the Lower Himalaya for convalescence. He would remain for weeks at a time in Landour at a grand hilltop building called The Castle, in 1853, under the tutelage of his long-time retainer Bhajan Lal, he converted to Christianity at Fatehgarh with the approval of the Governor-General Lord Dalhousie. His conversion remains controversial, and it occurred before he turned 15 and he later had serious doubts and regrets regarding this decision and reconverted back to Sikhism in 1886. He was also heavily and continuously exposed to Christian texts under the tutelage of the devout John Login and his two closest childhood friends were both English Anglican missionaries. In May 1854 he was sent into exile in Britain, Duleep Singhs arrival on the shores of England in late 1854 threw him into the European court. Queen Victoria showered affection upon the turbaned Maharaja, as did the Prince Consort and he was a member of the Photographic Society, later Royal Photographic Society from 1855 until his death. On his return from Europe in 1855 he was given a pension, and was officially under ward of Sir John Spencer Login and Lady Login. He spent the rest of his teens there but at 19 he demanded to be in charge of his household, eventually, he was given this and an increase in his annual pension

33.
Jaswant Singh II
–
Jaswant Singh II, GCSI, was Maharaja of Jodhpur from 4 February 1873 –11 October 1895. He was born in 1838 at Ahmadnagar in Gujarat and was eldest son of Takht Singh and he had eight wives, of which the first–the daughter of the Jam Sahib of Nawanagar, Puariji–was chief consort. He acceded to the throne of Jodhpur in 1873 upon death of his father, Takhat Singh, The reign of Jaswant Singh II was marked with remarkable prosperity and reforms and he established Courts of Justice, introduced system of revenue settlement and re=organizing all the state departments. Further, he developed infrastructure of the state by introducing telegraphs, railways and he formed Imperial Service Cavalry Corps, which later rendered active service in European War. He was honoured and created the Knight Grand Commander of the Most Exalted Order of the Star of India in 1875, jawant Singh had invited Swami Dayananda as he was influenced by his ideas. But the tragedy occurred when Dayananda was poisoned on 29 September 1883, when he was the royal guest of Jaswant Singh II, by Dayanandas own cook, Maharaja was quick to arrange services of doctor and arranged for Swamiji to be sent to Mount Abu upon advice of Residency. He died 11 October 1895 and was succeeded by his only son Sardar Singh, the Jaswant Thada is an architectural landmark located in Jodhpur. It is a marble memorial built by Sardar Singh in 1899 in memory of Maharaja Jaswant Singh II

34.
Marwar
–
Marwar is a region of southwestern Rajasthan state in North Western India. It lies partly in the Thar Desert, in Rajasthani dialect wad means a particular area. The word Marwar is derived from Sanskrit word Maruwat, english translation of the word is the region of desert. The region includes the districts of Barmer, Jalore, Jodhpur, Nagaur. In 1901 the region had an area of 90,554 km2, Marwar is a sandy plain lying northwest of the Aravalli Range, which runs southwest-northeast through Rajasthan state. The Aravallis wring much of the moisture from the southwest monsoon, annual rainfall is low, ranging from 10 cm to 40 cm. Temperatures range from 48 to 50 degrees Celsius in the summer, the northwestern thorn scrub forests lie next to the Aravalli Range, while the rest of the region lies in the Thar Desert. The Luni River is the feature of the Marwar plains. It is fed by tributaries that flow from the Aravallis, irrigation from the river, and from wells near the river, support crops of wheat and barley. The sandy tracts of Thar Desert in western Marwar are characterized by a physical geography. High wind velocity, shifting sand dunes and very deep and saline water sources pose a challenge to sustained human habitation in the Thar, the area is prone to devastating droughts. The Thar Desert is one of the most inhospitable landscapes on earth, apart from the huge distances between hamlets and settlements here, the landscape is constantly shifting with the sand, as wind and sandstorms re-arrange the landscape. This, added to the lack of water in such an arid region, the Gurjara Pratihara, a Rajput clan, established a kingdom in Marwar in the 6th century, with a capital at Mandore,9 km from present-day Jodhpur. The ruined city of Osian or Ossian,65 km from Jodhpur, was an important religious centre of the Pratihara period, the royal Rathore family of Jodhpur claim descent from the famous Rashtrakuta dynasty. On the fall of the Rashtrakuta dynasty they migrated north to Kannauj in Uttar Pradesh, the Jodhpur state was founded in the 13th century by the Rathore clan of Rajputs, who claim descent from the Gahadvala kings of Kannauj. After the sacking of Kannauj by Muhammad of Ghor in 1194, and its capture by the Delhi Sultanate in the early 13th century, the Rathores fled west. The Rathore family chronicles relate that Siyaji, grandson of Jai Chandra, on halting at the town of Pali he and his followers settled there to protect the Brahmin community from the raids of marauding bands. Rao Chanda, tenth in succession from Siyaji, finally wrested control of Marwar from the Gurjara Pratiharas, the city of Jodhpur, capital of the Rathor state and now a district administrative centre, was founded in 1459 by Rao Chandas successor Rao Jodha

35.
Brooklyn Museum
–
The Brooklyn Museum is an art museum located in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. At 560,000 square feet, the museum is New York Citys third largest in physical size, the museum initially struggled to maintain its building and collection, only to be revitalized in the late 20th century, thanks to major renovations. Significant areas of the collection include antiquities, specifically their collection of Egyptian antiquities spanning over 3,000 years, African, Oceanic, and Japanese art make for notable antiquities collections as well. American art is represented, starting at the Colonial period. Artists represented in the collection include Mark Rothko, Edward Hopper, Norman Rockwell, Winslow Homer, Edgar Degas, Georgia OKeeffe, the museum also has a Memorial Sculpture Garden which features salvaged architectural elements from throughout New York City. The roots of the Brooklyn Museum extend back to the 1823 founding by Augustus Graham of the Brooklyn Apprentices’ Library in Brooklyn Heights, in 1890, under its director Franklin Hooper, Institute leaders reorganized as the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences and began planning the Brooklyn Museum. The initial design for the Brooklyn Museum was four times as large as the actualized version, Daniel Chester French, the noted sculptor of the Lincoln Memorial, was the principal designer of the pediment sculptures and the monolithic 12. 5-foot figures along the cornice. The figures were created by 11 sculptors and carved by the Piccirilli Brothers, by 1920, the New York City Subway reached the museum with a subway station, this greatly improved access to the once-isolated museum from Manhattan and other outer boroughs. The Brooklyn Institutes director Franklin Hooper was the museums first director and he was followed by Philip Newell Youtz, Laurance Page Roberts, Isabel Spaulding Roberts, Charles Nagel, Jr. and Edgar Craig Schenck. Thomas S. Buechner became the director in 1960, making him one of the youngest directors in the country. Buechner oversaw a major transformation in the way the museum displayed art and brought some one thousand works that had languished in the museums archives and put them on display. Buechner played a role in rescuing the Daniel Chester French sculptures from destruction due to an expansion project at the Manhattan Bridge in the 1960s. The Brooklyn Museum changed its name to Brooklyn Museum of Art in 1997, on March 12,2004, the museum announced that it would revert to its previous name. In April 2004, the museum opened the James Polshek-designed entrance pavilion on the Eastern Parkway façade, in September 2014, Lehman announced that he was planning to retire around June 2015. In May 2015, Creative Time president and artistic director Anne Pasternak was named the Museums next director, member institutions occupy land or buildings owned by the City of New York and derive part of their yearly funding from the City. The Brooklyn Museum also supplements its earned income with funding from Federal and State governments, as well as donations by individuals. Major benefactors include Frank Lusk Babbott, the museum is the site of the annual Brooklyn Artists Ball which has included celebrity hosts such as Sarah Jessica Parker and Liv Tyler. The Brooklyn Museum exhibits collections that seek to embody the rich heritage of world cultures

36.
India
–
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and it is bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the southwest, and the Bay of Bengal on the southeast. It shares land borders with Pakistan to the west, China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the northeast, in the Indian Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives. Indias Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a border with Thailand. The Indian subcontinent was home to the urban Indus Valley Civilisation of the 3rd millennium BCE, in the following millennium, the oldest scriptures associated with Hinduism began to be composed. Social stratification, based on caste, emerged in the first millennium BCE, early political consolidations took place under the Maurya and Gupta empires, the later peninsular Middle Kingdoms influenced cultures as far as southeast Asia. In the medieval era, Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Christianity, and Islam arrived, much of the north fell to the Delhi sultanate, the south was united under the Vijayanagara Empire. The economy expanded in the 17th century in the Mughal empire, in the mid-18th century, the subcontinent came under British East India Company rule, and in the mid-19th under British crown rule. A nationalist movement emerged in the late 19th century, which later, under Mahatma Gandhi, was noted for nonviolent resistance, in 2015, the Indian economy was the worlds seventh largest by nominal GDP and third largest by purchasing power parity. Following market-based economic reforms in 1991, India became one of the major economies and is considered a newly industrialised country. However, it continues to face the challenges of poverty, corruption, malnutrition, a nuclear weapons state and regional power, it has the third largest standing army in the world and ranks sixth in military expenditure among nations. India is a constitutional republic governed under a parliamentary system. It is a pluralistic, multilingual and multi-ethnic society and is home to a diversity of wildlife in a variety of protected habitats. The name India is derived from Indus, which originates from the Old Persian word Hindu, the latter term stems from the Sanskrit word Sindhu, which was the historical local appellation for the Indus River. The ancient Greeks referred to the Indians as Indoi, which translates as The people of the Indus, the geographical term Bharat, which is recognised by the Constitution of India as an official name for the country, is used by many Indian languages in its variations. Scholars believe it to be named after the Vedic tribe of Bharatas in the second millennium B. C. E and it is also traditionally associated with the rule of the legendary emperor Bharata. Gaṇarājya is the Sanskrit/Hindi term for republic dating back to the ancient times, hindustan is a Persian name for India dating back to the 3rd century B. C. E. It was introduced into India by the Mughals and widely used since then and its meaning varied, referring to a region that encompassed northern India and Pakistan or India in its entirety

37.
Pakistan
–
Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a federal parliamentary republic in South Asia on the crossroads of Central Asia and Western Asia. It is the sixth-most populous country with a population exceeding 200 million people, in terms of area, it is the 33rd-largest country in the world with an area covering 881,913 square kilometres. It is separated from Tajikistan by Afghanistans narrow Wakhan Corridor in the north, Pakistan is unique among Muslim countries in that it is the only country to have been created in the name of Islam. As a result of the Pakistan Movement led by Muhammad Ali Jinnah and it is an ethnically and linguistically diverse country, with a similarly diverse geography and wildlife. Initially a dominion, Pakistan adopted a constitution in 1956, becoming an Islamic republic, an ethnic civil war in 1971 resulted in the secession of East Pakistan as the new country of Bangladesh. The new constitution stipulated that all laws were to conform to the injunctions of Islam as laid down in the Quran. Pakistan has an economy with a well-integrated agriculture sector. The Pakistani economy is the 24th-largest in the world in terms of purchasing power and it is ranked among the emerging and growth-leading economies of the world, and is backed by one of the worlds largest and fastest-growing middle classes. The post-independence history of Pakistan has been characterised by periods of military rule, the country continues to face challenging problems such as illiteracy, healthcare, and corruption, but has substantially reduced poverty and terrorism and expanded per capita income. It is also a member of CERN. Pakistan is a signatory to the Kyoto Protocol, the Paris Agreement, the name Pakistan literally means land of the pure in Urdu and Persian. It is a play on the word pāk meaning pure in Persian and Pashto, the letter i was incorporated to ease pronunciation and form the linguistically correct and meaningful name. Some of the earliest ancient human civilisations in South Asia originated from areas encompassing present-day Pakistan, the earliest known inhabitants in the region were Soanian during the Lower Paleolithic, of whom stone tools have been found in the Soan Valley of Punjab. The Vedic Civilization, characterised by Indo-Aryan culture, laid the foundations of Hinduism, Multan was an important Hindu pilgrimage centre. The Vedic civilisation flourished in the ancient Gandhāran city of Takṣaśilā, the Indo-Greek Kingdom founded by Demetrius of Bactria included Gandhara and Punjab and reached its greatest extent under Menander, prospering the Greco-Buddhist culture in the region. Taxila had one of the earliest universities and centres of education in the world. At its zenith, the Rai Dynasty of Sindh ruled this region, the Pala Dynasty was the last Buddhist empire, which, under Dharampala and Devapala, stretched across South Asia from what is now Bangladesh through Northern India to Pakistan. The Arab conqueror Muhammad bin Qasim conquered the Indus valley from Sindh to Multan in southern Punjab in 711 AD, the Pakistan governments official chronology identifies this as the time when the foundation of Pakistan was laid

38.
Bangladesh
–
Bangladesh, officially the Peoples Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It shares land borders with India and Myanmar, Nepal, Bhutan and China are located near Bangladesh but do not share a border with it. The countrys maritime territory in the Bay of Bengal is roughly equal to the size of its land area, Bangladesh is the worlds eighth most populous country. Dhaka is its capital and largest city, followed by Chittagong which has the countrys largest port, Bangladesh forms the largest and eastern part of the Bengal region. Bangladeshis include people of different ethnic groups and religions, Bengalis, who speak the official Bengali, make up 98% of the population. The politically dominant Bengali Muslims make the nation the worlds third largest Muslim-majority country, most of Bangladesh is covered by the Bengal delta, the largest delta on Earth. The country has 700 rivers and 8,046 km of inland waterways, highlands with evergreen forests are found in the northeastern and southeastern regions of the country. Bangladesh has many islands and a coral reef and it is home to the Sundarbans, the largest mangrove forest in the world. The countrys biodiversity includes a vast array of plant and wildlife, including critically endangered Bengal tigers, the Greeks and Romans identified the region as Gangaridai, a powerful kingdom of the historical subcontinent, in the 3rd century BCE. Archaeological research has unearthed several ancient cities in Bangladesh, which had trade links for millennia. The Bengal Sultanate and Mughal Bengal transformed the region into a cosmopolitan Islamic imperial power between the 14th and 18th centuries, the region was home to many principalities which had inland naval prowess. It was also a center of the worldwide muslin and silk trade. As part of British India, the region was influenced by the Bengali renaissance, the Partition of British India made East Bengal a part of the Dominion of Pakistan, and was renamed as East Pakistan. The region witnessed the Bengali Language Movement in 1952 and the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971, after independence, a parliamentary republic was established. A presidential government was in place between 1975 and 1990, followed by a return to parliamentary democracy, the country has also been affected by poverty, natural disasters, hunger, dominant party systems and military coups. Bangladesh is a power and a major developing nation. Listed as one of the Next Eleven, it has the 46th largest economy and it is one of the largest textile exporters in the world. Its major trading partners are the European Union, the United States, China, India, Japan, Malaysia, with its strategically vital location between Southern, Eastern and Southeast Asia, Bangladesh is an important promoter of regional connectivity and cooperation

39.
Princely state
–
A princely state, also called native state or Indian state, was a nominally sovereign monarchy under a local or regional ruler in a subsidiary alliance with a greater power. At the time of the British withdrawal,565 princely states were recognised in the Indian subcontinent, apart from thousands of zamindaris. Rulers of salute states entitled to a gun salute of eleven guns and above received from the British the style of Highness, while the Nizam of Hyderabad had the unique style of Exalted Highness. At the other end of the scale, the principality of Lawa covered an area of 49 km2, or smaller than Bermuda. Some two hundred of the states had an area of less than 25 km2. The era of the princely states effectively ended with Indian independence in 1947, by 1950, almost all of the principalities had acceded to either India or Pakistan – thirteen to Pakistan and the rest to India. During this time, the princely states were merged into unions, each of which was headed by a former ruling prince with the title of Rajpramukh. In 1956, the position of Rajpramukh was abolished and the federations dissolved, the Indian Government formally derecognised the princely families in 1971, followed by the Government of Pakistan in 1972. The widespread expansion of Islam during this time brought many principalities into tributary relations with Islamic sultanates, notably the Delhi Sultanate, in the south, however, the Hindu Vijayanagara Empire remained dominant until the mid-17th century, among its tributaries was the future Mysore Kingdom. The Turco-Mongol Mughal Empire brought a majority of the existing Indian kingdoms and principalities under its suzerainty by the 17th century, beginning with its foundation in the early 16th century. The advent of Sikhism resulted in the creation of the Sikh Empire in the north by the early 18th century, at the same time, the Marathas carved out their own states to form the Maratha Empire. Through the 18th century, former Mughal governors formed their own independent states, India under the British Raj consisted of two types of territory, British India and the Native states or Princely states. In general the term British India had been used also to refer to the regions under the rule of the East India Company in India from 1774 to 1858, the term has also been used to refer to the British in India. More prestigious Hindu rulers often used the title Raja, Raje or a variant such as Rana, Rao, also in this class were several Thakurs or Thakores and a few particular titles, such as Sardar, Mankari, Deshmukh, Sar Desai, Raja Inamdar, Saranjamdar. The most prestigious Hindu rulers usually had the prefix maha in their titles, as in Maharaja, Maharana, Maharao, etc. The states of Travancore and Cochin had queens regnant styled Maharani, generally the female forms applied only to sisters, spouses and widows, there were also compound titles, such as rajadhiraj, Raj-i-rajgan, often relics from an elaborate system of hierarchical titles under the Mughal emperors. For example, the addition of the adjective Bahadur raised the status of the one level. Furthermore, most dynasties used a variety of titles, such as Varma in South India

40.
Rana (title)
–
Rana is a historical title of Rajput origin, denoting an absolute monarch. Today, it is used as a name in South Asia. Rani is the title for the wife of a rana or a female monarch and it also applies to the wife of a raja. Compound titles include rana sahib, ranaji, rana bahadur, Rana was formerly used as a title of martial sovereignty by Rajput kings in India. Today, members of some Rajput clans in Indian subcontinent use it as a hereditary title, in Pakistan, mostly Muslims—but also some Hindus in Sindh —use it as a hereditary title. Umerkot, a state in Sindh, had a Hindu Rajput ruler who used the title. In the 16th century, Rana Prasad, the monarch of Umerkot, gave refuge to the Mughal prince Humayun and his wife, Hamida Banu Begum and their son Akbar was born in the fort of the Rana of Umerkot

Under Justinian I, reigning in the 6th century, parts of Italy were for a few decades (re)conquered from the Ostrogoths: thus, this famous mosaic, featuring the Byzantine emperor in the center, can be admired at Ravenna.

The Govindgarh Palace of the Maharaja of Rewa. The palace which was built as a hunting lodge later became famous for the first white tigers that were found in the adjacent jungle and raised in the palace zoo.

The Nawab of Junagadh Bahadur Khan III (seated centre in an ornate chair) shown in an 1885 photograph with state officials and family.